More efficient to allow grace period for paying ERP charges

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The Land Transport Authority's reply ("ERP payment: LTA replies"; Monday) to the suggestion of allowing delayed payment of Electronic Road Pricing charges is not convincing.

I have, on numerous occasions, forgotten to insert my CashCard into the in-vehicle unit when passing an ERP gantry, and ended up paying the administrative charge.

Why is there a need to impose an administrative fee to recover costs arising from back-end checking and processing? Surely, the ERP system is sophisticated enough to do this.

Instead of waiting a few days for the LTA notice and then paying the administrative fee on the one.motoring website, one could visit the site, say, within 24 hours of the incident, and pay the charges without penalty.

In any case, the information is captured on the LTA system. So why is there a need for it to print out a notice, mail it and then charge $10 to recover the costs incurred? That does not seem very productive.

I remember driving through a toll road in the United States years ago without paying the fee as I did not have the required coins in my rented car. All I had to do within 48 hours was to call a toll-free number, give the details of my car and the toll station location, and then pay the amount via credit card.

Surely, in a compact island like Singapore, with a world-class transport management system, the LTA could do the same? Give the motorist 24 or 48 hours to pay the charges without penalty, beyond which a late fee can be levied.

Francis Yeoh Song Chian