A motorist was left frustrated after being slapped with a 330-baht fine for paying his 30-baht M-Flow toll too promptly.
The driver shared his experience on the Facebook group ‘??????????????????’ (We Are Consumers) on Oct 31.
He said he travelled to Ayutthaya on July 12-13 and passed through four M-Flow toll gates.
Worried he might forget to pay, he settled what appeared to be the full 90-baht charge just five minutes after exiting the final toll booth.
M-Flow is a barrier-free automatic toll collection system that allows vehicles to pass through without stopping, with payment made after use through a post-paid system.
Nearly four months later, after seeing warnings about M-Flow penalties, he discovered an outstanding balance and paid it immediately, only to then realise he had already settled all the tolls in July.
The Department of Highways call centre explained his original payment had only covered three gates. The fourth gate’s 30-baht charge had not yet appeared in the system when he paid so promptly. Transactions required approximately 30 minutes to process.
The delayed processing caused the 30-baht toll to balloon to 330 baht in penalties.
The motorist questioned whether he was truly at fault. He urged other users to wait at least a day before making any payment and to double-check for any outstanding charges.
The response was mixed. Many social media users sympathise with the motorist. Others asked why he did not notice paying only 90 baht for four gates that should have cost 120 baht. One said they, personally, waited several hours before making payment.
Another suggested the driver bore partial responsibility for not knowing the individual toll charges at each gate.