Resident victim of blatant e-toll blunder

Another local resident has fallen prey to the obviously dysfunctional e-tolling system.

Llewellyn Phillips of Maraisburg received an e-toll bill for R20 from the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) on 10 April.

According to Philips he would not mind paying R20 but his problem with the bill is twofold. First of all the picture clearly shows a white BMW with a different licence plate to the white Opel that he drives.

Secondly the bill is for a gantry on the N1 Western Bypass near Maraisburg, a road that Phillips says he never uses.

Philips thought he could rectify the mistake easily since the picture is so obviously not of his vehicle and the fact that it is not even the same licensing plate would eliminate the possibility of a false or duplicate licence plate.

“I went to the Westgate e-toll centre thinking I would sort out the problem quick and easy but the people there are useless,” says Philips.

“It seems that they have no authority to rectify such a clear mistake and wanted me to fill out forms, which in return had to be processed and assessed. I can not see why there has to be such an arduous process to sort out this problem and out of principle I refuse to pay,” says the angry Philips.

“How many people do they actually rip off when they just pay and let it slide, just because it is too much of a hassle to go through the whole process of rectifying the mistake. I am sure there are thousands of people who receive these faulty bills and that Sanral cashes in on this chaos.”