MLFF toll plan not rushed, several platforms considered

KUALA LUMPUR, July 17, 2024 — Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said Wednesday that Malaysia will not be pushed into a rushed rollout of multi-lane fast flow (MLFF) toll collection. The parties involved have been given a timeline but need more time to settle the details, and several platforms have already been considered. He declined to identify those platforms while talks remain under negotiation.

The project is being handled on a business-to-business basis, Nanta said. That means the government is not choosing the technology or deciding the pricing on its own. Highway concessionaires are expected to sit down with interested parties and develop the system among themselves.

“We did not want to do this in a rush,” the minister said. He added that the months spent on the project have been used to ensure the right players are at the table, especially the companies that operate Malaysia’s tolled highways.

Nanta’s comments, reported by The Star, reinforce the government’s earlier position that it will not interfere in commercial discussions between concessionaires. In June, he said the B2B model leaves very little room for government intervention or participation. The reasoning, he said, is that concessionaires own the roads and the assets, so they are best placed to decide what works.

The minister also said the parties have already received a timeline. “They just need a little bit more time and there are platforms that they have already also thought out,” he told reporters. He gave no indication of when the platforms would be named publicly.

For Malaysian motorists, MLFF represents a significant change from today’s toll plazas. Current expressways still use physical lanes where drivers stop to pay with Touch ’n’ Go cards, SmartTAG devices, or RFID-based scanners. MLFF aims to replace that process with overhead gantries that read a vehicle tag or license plate, allowing cars to keep moving at highway speed. Payment would be deducted electronically, cutting queue times and reducing congestion at peak hours.

The complexity, however, is not just technological. Malaysia’s highway network is operated by dozens of separate concessionaires, each managing different routes under agreements with the federal government. For MLFF to work seamlessly, these operators need to coordinate their back-office systems, payment processing, data sharing, and revenue allocation across multiple corridors. A single system must work for drivers who travel across several highways in one trip.

The B2B approach adds another layer. Instead of having the state pick one vendor and impose a standard, the government is asking private highway operators to form their own commercial alliances. That could produce more practical solutions, but it also makes the process harder to follow and more difficult to negotiate. Smaller concessionaires may worry about how MLFF revenue would be split, especially if vehicles pass over several toll roads run by different companies.

Observers of Malaysia’s toll industry say the delay is likely driven by those commercial questions, not just hardware installation. MLFF would create a single stream of automated payments across different highways, which means operators need to agree on settlement rules and enforcement. Without that, a driver could pass through a gantry and leave no clear trail of which concessionaire should be paid. These are exactly the details Nanta says are still being worked out.

For U.S. readers, the Malaysian setup looks very different from the way many American toll networks operate. In the United States, toll roads are often run by state authorities or through structured public-private partnerships where a single agency manages procurement, standards, and performance oversight. In Malaysia, the federal government is more of a regulator, while private concessionaires hold long-term rights to collect tolls. That fragmentation means commercial alignment among operators matters as much as the technical capability of the gantry equipment.

The minister’s cautious tone also leaves drivers uncertain about what they will eventually need to use. Since no platforms have been named, motorists do not know whether MLFF will use the existing Touch ’n’ Go and RFID ecosystem, a new national tag, or an open-payment system that relies on license-plate recognition. That uncertainty can be a problem for fleet operators and commuters who plan budgets around specific toll tags.

Still, Nanta has been consistent in explaining why the government is holding back. In June, he said the B2B model is meant to let people already in the toll business “get together, work things out, and come out with the best system and for the best pricing.” He repeated that intention Wednesday, saying the government does not want to intervene in decisions that are ultimately commercial.

There is also a political motive in the slow pace. A centralized procurement for MLFF would be a high-visibility contract, and it would likely face scrutiny over which company gets the technology mandate. By shifting responsibility to concessionaires, the government can avoid choosing winners and avoid direct blame if the system underperforms in its early stages. That may explain why the ministry is comfortable waiting longer.

The absence of a public deadline makes it hard to predict when MLFF will start appearing on highways. Nanta admitted that a timeline has been shared with the parties but did not say when that timeline would lead to a public announcement. The only firm commitment is that the rollout will not be rushed.

In the meantime, drivers will continue to use the existing toll infrastructure. The government’s stance suggests the next public step may come only after concessionaires have settled their partnerships and chosen a workable platform. When that happens, the minister says, the public will be told.

For now, the main message from the works minister is straightforward: no date is fixed, no vendor has been chosen, and the private sector must prove the system before the government signs off.