The government’s proposal to break the Touch ‘n Go (TNG) monopoly in the country’s transport and road system is seen as appropriate in order to create healthy competition in addition to giving more choices to consumers, especially in the process of paying tolls on the highway.
Economic analyst from the University of Kuala Lumpur’s Faculty of Business, Associate Professor Aimi Zulhazmi Abdul Rashid said, the addition of service providers other than TNG is very welcome and is hoped to be able to deal with the problem of congestion at the toll plaza, according to Bernama.
“The addition of competitors will further improve the quality of TNG’s own service because with good competition, it will have a positive effect on stake holders.
“This will directly provide many benefits to users including more competitive, cheaper and effective services,” he told Bernama.
Yesterday (March 20), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim while answering a question from a participant in the youth dialogue program ‘Meet Anwar’ at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center informed that the government will reconsider TNG’s monopoly in transport and roads.
The dialogue program organized by the Anwar Ibrahim Club (AIC) was conducted by celebrity Amelia Henderson and attended by more than 5,000 young people who had the opportunity to ask various questions to the country’s number one leader.
Similarly, Director of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) Program, Putra Business Faculty Associate Professor Dr Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff said that usually, companies that monopolize a business lack innovation and are more likely to charge higher prices.
He said that although the toll rate is controlled by the government, the service provided by the TNG company was found to be unsatisfactory, especially in dealing with the issue of toll payment using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).
“Consumers have no choice, causing these monopoly companies to take advantage of consumers, for example selling TNG cards and RFID tags at high prices,” he said.
Ahmed Razman said the best way to deal with the problem is to implement a system that can accept various types of payments.
“… many have ideas about this matter but what is important is that the government examines all these ideas in detail and implements them without any more monopoly because one of the goals is to give more choices to consumers,” he said.
For Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Institute of Social Sciences Director Professor Dr Haslinda Abdullah, the decision to reconsider TNG will only have an impact if it directly affects consumers.
“The interests of these users, if given focus, will have a very positive impact on the existing government, but the decision must also take into account past agreements so that losses on the part of the government can be minimized,” he said.
A survey on the social media site Twitter found that people agreed with the suggestion and even suggested the type of payment that could be made.
