PLUS closed-system tolled highways like North-South Expressway to support Touch ‘n Go PayDirect soon

During the launch of its new SOS Balance feature today, Touch ‘n Go’s e-commerce arm TNG Digital has confirmed that several highways are in the process of adopting its PayDirect system, whereby toll payments will be deducted directly from a user’s eWallet balance even when they use their physical TNG card. Notably, this includes closed-system tolled highways managed by PLUS Malaysia, including the North-South Expressway.

Hitherto, PLUS had been the biggest holdout of this feature. Currently, the only way to pay for tolls using TNG eWallet on certain PLUS highways – which also include the North Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), ELITE, Seremban-Port Dickson Highway (SPDH) and Second Link – is to use TNG’s RFID system. Soon, these highways will finally adopt PayDirect, meaning that users won’t have to reload their TNG cards if their balance is low before exiting the highway.

It should be noted that PLUS’ two open-system tolled highways, the Penang Bridge and the Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE), already support PayDirect in addition to RFID. Besides PLUS, the West Coast Expressway (WCE) is also in the process of adopting PayDirect. This will leave the Kajang-Seremban Highway (LEKAS) and the East Coast Expressway 1 and 2 (LPT1 and LPT2) as the only remaining holdouts, with the last two also not having RFID lanes.

PayDirect and RFID are the core components of SOS Balance, which delays toll payments up to RM80 for up to 24 hours if a user’s eWallet balance is insufficient. This prevents motorists from getting stuck at toll plazas and having to reverse due to baki kurang.

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