‘Only court order can stop Ayala-MPIC’s MRT-LRT ticket project’

MANILA, Philippines – AF Consortium of conglomerates Ayala Corporation and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) is proceeding with its project to modernize the ticketing system of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) despite an appeal made by the SM group.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) issued AF Consortium a Notice of Award on January 30, declaring it the winning bidder for the P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System Project (AFCS), the first Public-Private Partnership project awarded by government this year.

The SM group of mall tycoon Henry Sy has appealed the decision, saying it submitted the superior bid for the project.

“The BAC is not inclined to derail the process further especially now that we have awarded the project. Without a court order or any issuance preventing DOTC from proceeding, DOTC will continue with the process,” said DOTC spokesperson Michael Arthur Sagcal.

AF Consortium submitted a negative bid of P1,088,103,900 for the project last December 12, edging the negative P1,088,000,000 bid of the SM group.

The SM group however said its bid was superior because it offered to pay the government the full amount upfront. It also claimed that AF Consortium’s bid was conditional. “Under the terms of the AF Consortium bid, 72% of the total amount will only be paid to government in 2024 or 2025 and only if the conditional [passenger] volume is met. Otherwise, the government will not be able to collect anything at all,” the company’s president Hans Sy said in an earlier statement.

But Sagcal said, “The bid provided a schedule of the different options on how the transaction fee will be paid example x amount for 300 million to 350 million passengers, y amount for 350 million to 400 million.

“I guess SM chose a different structure. In any case, AF’s structure met our requirements.”

The AFCS, patterned after mass rail transport payment systems in developed countries such as Singapore’s EZ Link Card, will upgrade the MRT and LRT ticketing system by substantially speeding up payments, reducing queuing time and allowing passengers seamless transfers from one rail line to another.

“We believe our strategic alliance with Ayala will result in an efficient, convenient and integrated light transit system network similar to our neighboring Asian nations,” MPIC chairman Manuel Pangilinan said in a statement.

AF Consortium plans to expand the use of the card system to include other modes of transport such as buses and toll roads. It also has the option to offer it for use outside the transportation sector – in retail, parking and security applications. – Rappler.com