Its director, Helmuth Blasch, said this year alone, about 75% of the 270,000 new passenger cars and commercial vehicles registered in Peninsular Malaysia until September 2021 were delivered with either a SmartTAG compatible built-in toll reader or portable device.

Efkon Asia is the technology provider of the infra-red (IR) toll collection system used on Malaysian highways.

“In Germany, the nationwide truck tolling system installed on all highways has proven to be highly effective, catering to more than two million trucks travelling at up to 100kph.

“It uses a similar IR technology like in Malaysia to validate payment. We have also replicated this test in Malaysia.

“Our SmartTAG compatible units comply with DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Communication) standards and are ECE R10 certified,” he said in a statement today.

Efkon Asia has been working closely with the local manufacturers of SmartTAG compatible devices to continuously introduce upgrades and improve user experience, he added.

“For highway concessionaires, we are now offering new lane side antennas at a subsidised cost to upgrade the performance of SmartTAG lanes to ensure smoother traffic flow.

“In Q1/2022, we will be moving towards digitalisation by enabling Bluetooth connection between our devices and smartphones or car media systems.

“Connection to an e-wallet for easy top-ups will also be possible,” Blasch added.