From February 15th 2020, a day after bringing your sweetheart for an over-priced dinner the once upon a time FREE RFID Tag will not longer be given out to ‘pilot users’ in Malaysia. Touch ‘N Go had in the past 18 months given out a staggering 1 million FREE RFID Tags and no Malaysian went on social media to mention this FREE ‘giveaway’.
Touch ‘N Go will NOW start charging a flat fee of RM35.00 for the Tag including installation. This will now create a ‘string’ complaints about its price and the fact that it is not 100% efficient. (we will get back to this in a later paragraph).
Research in 2017 by the Malaysia Automotive Association (MAA) has shown that the total number of vehicles on Malaysian roads stand at a staggering 28,181,203 units. This is approximately 1 vehicle for every person in the country, and this trend looks to continue in 2020.
Are There Many More Drivers
So, there is still some 27 plus million road users that need to get this RFID Tag from Touch ‘N Go.
Let’s start right here in our office. There are 8 cars between the DSF.my team and not a single car is fitted with this Touch ‘N Go RFID Tag. Why? Well we are test driving a new car almost every week and so there is little need to get a RFID Tag. We personally have 3 Smart Tags in 3 different models which we obtained over 20 odd years. All in good working condition and needing a battery replacement every now and then. The best unit was and is still the first early Smart Tag unit.
Will we be installing a Touch ‘N Go RFID Tag anytime soon? Yes, we will and it will be for our most used car in the garage. The wife’s car. The same applies to our DSF.my team. Their wife’s will get the RFID Tag.
Touch ‘N Go RFID Tag Efficiency
In the second paragraph we mentioned the efficiency of the RFID Tag. Yes, there have been complaints about its ‘reading’ at some toll plazas. Well, it is still in its infancy and like the Smart Tag which had issues in its early years, it will all soon be sorted. Fact, technology takes time to right itself.
The other issue is weather and grime. If the RFID Tag is covered by a dead bug, road grime or some foreign road clutter, then the reader will have an issue reading the Tag. Your car may leave you home clean and shiny, but after 2 minutes on the road, a bug, bird poo or the residue of a motorcyclist clearing his tonsils could be sitting smack in the center of your RFID Tag.
Check Before Screaming
So, if the Tag is not read at a toll plaza, check with the toll plaza to see if their reader has an issue, we have had issues with many Touch ‘N Go car readers at PLUS toll booths which are covered in grime. Inform Touch ‘N Go online when you have an issue and let them fix it. They have the money for maintenance.
Does Not Need Power
Yes, unlike the Smart Tag unit that runs on a 9V battery, the RFID Tag uses no battery or power at all. So you can just keep running it.
