Indonesia's Contactless Toll Road Project Stalls for Six Years, Here's the Root Cause

The Multi Lane Free Flow (MLFF) contactless toll transaction project has yet to enter the full implementation phase. Although the cooperation agreement for this system was signed in March 2021, the government has acknowledged that the project to enable toll payments without stopping is now entering its sixth year and is still in the preparation stage for retesting.

Head of the Toll Road Regulatory Agency (BPJT), Ni Komang Rasminiati, stated that the government is currently preparing for a retrial of the MLFF. This step follows a recommendation from the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) for the system to be tested again comprehensively.

“The MLFF cooperation agreement was first signed in March 2021, so we are now stepping into the sixth year. But currently, the update is that we are preparing to conduct a retrial. The hope is that this retrial can also be carried out this year,” Ni Komang said during a hearing with the House of Representatives’ Commission V at the parliament complex in Jakarta on Thursday (9/7/2026).

She explained that the business entity involved in this project is Roatex Indonesia Toll System (RITS). However, before the system can be implemented further, the government must ensure the technical readiness of the MLFF to be applied within the Indonesian toll road ecosystem.

“In this case, the BUP is RITS. Currently, we can convey that we are preparing for a retrial based on the BPKP’s recommendation. It was reviewed by the BPKP and recommended that a comprehensive retrial be conducted to ensure whether this system can technically be applied in the Indonesian toll road ecosystem,” she said.

The MLFF is a contactless toll transaction system designed to allow vehicles to pass through without stopping at toll gates. The system is touted to change the toll transaction pattern from the current electronic card-based system to a contactless digital payment system.

However, the implementation of the MLFF has not yet reached the commercial stage. The project is still in the early stages of testing, including functional tests, before it can proceed to a broader trial and evaluation phase.

Meanwhile, the MLFF implementation plan still leaves several notes from toll road business entities.

Acting Secretary General of the Indonesian Toll Road Association (ATI), who is also the Director of Operations and Engineering at PT Marga Mandala Sakti, Kristianto, stated that there is a fundamental issue that needs to be resolved before the system can be operated.

He highlighted the MLFF scheme’s potential to transfer toll collection rights from Toll Road Business Entities (BUJT) to the Implementing Business Entity (BUP). According to him, this could create serious problems for BUJT because toll collection rights have been used as collateral for lenders.

“Regarding the MLFF, there is a fundamental and essential problem that is very difficult for us to implement. This is related to the possibility of default,” Kristianto said on the same occasion.

“As we know, based on what we have received in the MLFF implementation planning, if the MLFF is implemented, the government will form a BUP, which will carry out the toll collection process, and for this purpose, the BUP will take over the toll collection rights from the BUJT,” he continued.

Kristianto further stated that BUJTs, as investors, only have toll collection rights, and these rights have already been used as collateral for lenders.

“So, if these toll collection rights are then revoked by the government and given to the BUP, we will automatically default on the bank,” he said.

Kristianto noted that this condition is a core problem that is very difficult to explain to both creditors and toll road investors.

“This is something that is very difficult for us to convey to our lenders and also to our investors. So, this is our main problem,” he stressed.

In addition to the business scheme, he also highlighted the aspect of toll collection accuracy. According to him, the toll collection system currently operated by BUJTs has achieved a near-perfect accuracy rate, whereas the MLFF technology presented by RITS is said to still have gaps.

“Regarding the accuracy of toll collection results. As we know, Alhamdulillah, the toll collection process for investment returns currently carried out by BUJTs has achieved an accuracy rate of almost 100%,” he explained.

“Meanwhile, technically, the disclaimer from RITS that was conveyed to us stated that their accuracy was only 94%, so we have not been able to get an answer regarding the remaining 6% difference,” he added.

Kristianto assessed that if the system brought by RITS is adopted because it uses the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), this accuracy issue could potentially become a polemic internally among BUJTs.

“If the system brought by RITS is adopted because they use the GNSS system, this might be the main problem that has been a polemic internally among us BUJTs,” Kristianto said.

He also mentioned that if the government’s main objective is to improve services for toll road users, the BUJTs fundamentally believe that the development of a similar system can be carried out internally with the technology they currently possess.

“With all due respect, we might need to convey that if the intention is to decide to use this MLFF in order to improve services for road users, we can convey here that internally, the BUJTs can already implement this internally, with the accuracy and technology that we currently have,” he concluded.