Causing Traffic Jams, 21,000 Vehicles Faced Insufficient E-Toll Balances During Eid Return Journey

PT Jasa Marga (Persero) Tbk is urging road users planning their return journey to Jabotabek to ensure they have sufficient electronic money (e-toll) balances for their travels. This follows an evaluation from H-10 to H+1 of the Eid al-Fitr 1447H/2026 holiday period, or 11-22 March 2026. According to Jasa Marga, 21,000 vehicles had insufficient e-toll balances at the Kalikangkung Toll Gate on the Batang-Semarang Toll Road and had to top up their e-toll there. Jasa Marga President Director Rivan A. Purwantono explained that this number represents 4.9 percent of the total 442,000 vehicles that transacted at the Kalikangkung GT during the same period. “Insufficient e-toll balances, which lead to high top-up activity at the toll gate, will cause significant delays and queues at the toll gate,” said Rivan in a written statement on Tuesday (24/3/2026). Therefore, Jasa Marga urges road users to anticipate their return journey by ensuring sufficient e-toll balances before entering the toll road to avoid vehicle queues and maintain smooth traffic flow. “Prepare sufficient e-toll balances for road users making continuous journeys, especially from the Trans Java direction towards Jakarta,” he added. For the journey from Semarang to Jakarta, Group I vehicle users are advised to prepare a minimum e-toll balance of Rp500,000. Meanwhile, for users travelling from Surabaya to Jakarta, a minimum balance of Rp1,000,000 is recommended. If top-up processes occur at the toll gate for thousands of vehicles passing through the Cikampek Utama GT, it will certainly disadvantage road users, as travel time is wasted just waiting for the top-up process. Rivan also reminded road users, particularly those travelling on the Trans Java Toll Road with a closed transaction system (distance-based tariffs), that the e-toll card used at tap-in must be the same as the one used at tap-out. Thus, road users cannot use another person’s card if the balance is insufficient. “For ease of transactions, road users can top up e-toll balances through various channels, including the Travoy App, mobile banking services from the issuing bank, retail outlets/minimarkets, or top-up facilities at rest areas,” he concluded.