In support of Yusri Nuqman's ' Why is Samy so insistent on Touch 'n Go system? ' I would like to add my own two cents worth.

I bought my Fastrak unit for RM30 when Sprint was newly opened. As of now, I never had the need to pay another visit to the Sprint office because the unit worked flawlessly. For RM30, I get to pass through the toll plazas without needing to stop. Whenever the balance reaches RM20, the unit will automatically reload from my Citibank credit card.

At the same time, I am also a Touch 'n Go user. Every time I use the card, I have to stop, wind down my windows, and touch the card. If it happens to be raining at the time, I'll get a bit wet. Every few weeks or so, I will have to reload my Touch 'n Go card manually since Rangkaian Segar Sdn Bhd cancelled my auto reload facility and never bothered reinstating it.

Once, on the way to entering the highway through Shah Alam toll plaza, I had to detour to the Batu Tiga toll plaza (and paying the RM1 toll there) because the Shah Alam toll plaza had no reload facility. All that trouble so that I can move from the cash lane queue to the Touch 'n Go queue.

I have contemplated upgrading to the Smart Tag unit to go through the toll plazas faster. Unfortunately, at RM220 (a whopping RM190 more than the Fastrak unit), the cost is just too steep for a Perodua driver like me. Compound that with the horror stories from my Smart Tag-using friends and family members about Smart Tag barriers failing to open, being charged RM40 when the toll fare is only RM5 etc, and you will understand why I will not be using the Smart Tag.

What I would like to know is:

1) Why are we being forced to use a less efficient system?

2) Why is there an RM190 price difference between Smart Tag and Fastrak when they virtually do the same job? Where does the money go to (or into whose pocket)?

3) Why is it not possible to have more than one system and leave the consumer to choose the system they are comfortable with?

4) Who owns Rangkaian Segar Sdn Bhd?

Does anybody have the answers?