What to Do If You Forgot to Remove the ETC When Selling Your Car?
3 Answers
If you forgot to remove the ETC device after selling your car, you can bring your ID card to the issuing bank to cancel it. After cancellation, the original ETC device will be deactivated and no longer have recognition functionality. How many ETCs can one person apply for: If a person owns only one car, they can apply for only one ETC. If a person owns multiple cars, they can apply for multiple ETCs. ETC Usage Precautions: The ETC transaction sensing range is 8 meters. When encountering a stopped vehicle ahead, to prevent the vehicle in front from having a faulty ETC device or no ETC device at all, maintain a distance of more than 10 meters to avoid automatic sensing and paying for the vehicle ahead. The speed limit for ETC lane recognition is 20 km/h. Driving too fast may prevent the system from reading the vehicle's device information, leading to failed deductions. Unauthorized removal or movement of the OBU device, or if the ETC electronic tag falls off or becomes loose, will cause the electronic tag to fail. You can take it to the bank where the ETC card was issued or the highway service office for inspection. If the loosening or detachment is not due to human intervention, it only requires reactivation. When using a debit card linked to ETC, insufficient balance may also cause deduction failures. Follow the instructions of on-site staff to use the manual MTC lane and pay via cash or card. A car's excessively thick windshield may cause poor signal reception. This is especially important for vehicles that have had their windshields replaced after an accident or for those who have modified their front windshields.
After selling my car, I realized the ETC device wasn’t removed—definitely frustrating. My first instinct was to contact the buyer immediately, either by text or call, to explain the situation and ask if they could help remove the ETC and mail it back or dispose of it locally. At the same time, I promptly reached out to the ETC company’s customer service to report the device as lost or transfer the account to prevent unauthorized toll charges. Since ETC is often linked to a bank or credit card, don’t wait until billing issues arise—play it safe by freezing the old account or applying for a new card to avoid accumulating unexpected fees. If the buyer doesn’t respond, don’t give up; head straight to an ETC service center to deactivate the device, bringing proof of the vehicle sale for smoother processing. Bottom line: add ‘remove ETC’ to your pre-sale checklist next time to avoid repeating this mistake.
Forgetting to remove the ETC device when selling a car may seem trivial, but it actually concerns personal data security. The ETC device may contain bank card information, and any usage by others could result in charges being billed to me. I took immediate action: first, I contacted the buyer for a friendly discussion, requesting the removal of the device. If they refused, I planned to call the ETC service hotline to freeze the account and report it as lost. Next, I checked my recent credit card statements for any unusual transactions to prevent a minor issue from escalating into a fraud risk. In the long term, planning ahead for ETC removal is essential—creating a checklist before selling the car is a good practice. Don’t forget, the new owner could also face inconvenience, so thorough consideration is necessary.
