San Miguel Corporation (SMC) will start charging fees for the use of Skyway 3 starting Monday, July 12, after waiving toll since 2019.

In a statement on Tuesday, July 6, SMC announced that it will charge “lower” toll than the originally proposed fees. The conglomerate, so far, has waived over P246 million in toll.

SMC said it has already secured a toll operating permit and a notice to start collecting toll from the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

The final toll matrix will be announced by SMC Infrastructure before Monday.

“We know from experience that times are hard for many, and even a little relief for motorists can go a long way. These toll rates reflect our deferral of the collection of a substantial amount of the cost to build Skyway 3. We also further lowered the rates for those traveling shorter distances,” said SMC president Ramon Ang.

Ang also said the fees to be collected will be used for operations and maintenance.

Before Skyway 3’s soft opening in December 2020, SMC already opened the Buendia-Paco segment in July 2019.

SMC funded the construction of the 18-kilometer Skyway 3, spending over P80 billion, which is more than double the revised costing of P36.2 billion approved by the TRB in 2014.

The Skyway 3 construction started in 2014, but its completion date was postponed several times due to delays and right-of-way issues. – Rappler.com