Posted by : Tom Doyle in (Driving & Cycling, Rantings) 23rd Jul, 2008
eFlow - barrier-free tolling solution for the M50
Tagged Under : eFlow, eFlow Barrier-Free, National Roads Authority, Toll Tag, TollTag
Image via WikipediaThere are a couple of things I don’t understand about the new eFlow Barrier-Free system that is due to come into effect from the 30th of August…
- How can eFlow and the National Roads Authority get away with their advertising campaign of deceit?
- Why as a nation, do we put up with this stealth tax?
The eFlow advertising campaign is based around the idea that by registering now, we will somehow avail of a cheaper option for using the toll. From the outset it actually looks like you do save money. If you are registered with eFlow, your passage through the m50 toll bridge will cost just €2, whereas if you are unregistered the fee will actually be €3 a go.
That all sounds great until you read the terms and conditions…
To open an eFlow account, it costs €40!!***
It costs €1 per month for them to administer the account (whatever that means..).
On top of this, there is a minimum account balance of €12. Once your account hits this amount they will automatically top you up (by charging your credit card) at the minimum top up rate of €30.
For your fist year driving through the M50 toll, it will cost you a minimum of €40. If you go through more than 14 times in the year, your minimum cost will be €70. So in the time it takes you to spend €70 at the moment you will get through the toll 35 times compared to just 14 in the first year with the eFlow system.
Now, lets say you are someone like me who rarely uses the M50 toll bridge, at most I use it about 10 times a year. There doesn’t seem to be much point in me registering for eFlow. But I face a 50% increase in price for not being registered.
Add that to the inconvenience of it all. God forbid if I had a chance to go on holidays, I would have to go through the M50 toll to get to the airport. Well unless I get to the airport, check-in, find my departure gate and get to an Internet connection to pay my toll for coming to the airport (which has to be paid within 24 hours) I will return to a lovely bill of €46 from my two week holiday.
Why aren’t eFlow forced to show these terms and conditions in their adverts?
***Note: You can register for a video account for free - works much the same as not registering, but is €0.50 cheaper.
Great post Tom. I went through the M50 yesterday and wondered if the people employed on the toll bridge will loose their jobs now.
The e Flow tag will also work on other tolls in the country so will these charges be applied to all other tolls not just he M50 in time? I think it is a crazy situation. The inflated cost of using the M 50 is not justified at all. I am amazed that people who use this road on a daily basis are not going crazy at this massive hike in cost. Another episode of Rip Off Rrepublic, when will it stop.
Yes the eFlow tag can be used on other Tolls throughout the country.
I completely agree, it’s a totally unjustified increase - but I don’t see many people complaining…. that’s the sad part!
This is unbelievable. How exactly are none regular users of the m50 who are not registered meant to pay when they go on holidays? What about the people without credit cards as well? Go help them if they go on holidays… they have no way of actually paying the bill and so will face a €46 bill as soon as they get home…
This really is beyond belief!!
There are two “payzone” points in Dublin Airport - it’s like those phone topups as far as I know. Can you imagine the queues
Hi Tom, I’ve heard that there will be a charge to use the M50 even if you haven’t passed thru the Toll Booth. Example - I take the Liffey Valley sliproad onto the M50 going Southbound - will I be tolled when I go down this sliproad??
Wow - I didn’t hear anything about that. Surely the people of Ireland will come out and complain then!!?!!?
Yeah apparently anyone using the M50 at all, regardless if they pass thru the actual barriers where the current toll booth is will now be charged - looks like they want to start the barrier free in August and then when it’s up and running start bringing in the charges at all the sliproads.
God, do you have anymore information on this? I’d love to read up on it and voice opinion!
have a rep in every dublin constituancy for the local elections next year and the tol will be gone for good.
Good article I was going to register until I read it. Seems to me the only way is for no one to pay and clog up the system by having them take their legal proceedings. A total rip off, but one one that should be taken lying down. Is a private prosecution that the toll bridge people will bring in order to effect payment for defaulters?
just tried to register on eflow , they do not accept credit cards ony laser or dreict debit, will now use the back roads, what a country .
This indeed seems insane!
I have to pay an additional 12 euro a month to have them administer an account they force me to open.
If I open a video account I face a levy of .50 per usage and the same 1 euro admin fee for the account I must open.
Or finally I don’t register at all and face a 50% price hike for not opening their costly account and have the incovenience of having to go to a paypoint to pay after the fact to pay!
What fool thought up this system and how stupid do they think the Irish people are? I for one have no intention of paying. Just called them to tell them that too! Suggest everyone do the same and hopefully majority wins!
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I am so glad I read this article. I was at the final stages of registering and was confused about the initial admin charge and the ongoing monthly admin fee so didn’t continue. Thank god. I will most definitely be ringing tomorrow to complain about this. How do they intend extracting payment from tourists? And what if someone else is driving your car and clocks up a few quid on the M50 and doesn’t tell you, perhaps because they don’t realise there are such charges or they just simply don’t realise the urgency in prompt payment?
I think it’s so unfair that you are charged to travel both ways on this road. There should only be a charge for entering the city, not for leaving it.
Yea! the new system is “IRISH” alright. My neighbor and husbands license plate was stolen a couple of weeks back, I wonder if they could be used to clock up bills on the M50 toll through the camera. Not all cars are properly registered either. Yet again the powers that be set up these ridiculous systems but we do not complain enough. there have been only 14 replies to this post so far and you can be guaranteed that Brian Cowen and his crew are not spending their holidays reading them and having a rethink. I consider myself an intelligent human being but I cannot get my head around this, there is a lot of confusing information and I feel it is deliberately made unclear, as if trying to hoodwink us mere mortals. I have not registered as like so many others I do not use the toll on a regular basis. Clear and specific information leaflets should be put through every door in Dublin at least, and then people can make up their minds. In the meantime its a case of Big Brother watching!
I think the only solution is that nobody registers until the people who put this stupid system together realize that it is not fair at all. M50 should be free of use, it is in the city to deviate traffic from the busy city centre. Why are we paying taxes at the end, if everything that government is expected to provide to people was going to cost?
At least 10% of the cars on Dublin roads are registered in another country (mostly UK and Eastern Europe). Are these cars going to use the road for free. How will the eToll police be able to track them down to get them to pay? This point seems to be missed in the press.
The article is totally incorrect, I’m sorry to say this. Please people, before jumping to conclusions and posting articles and comments like this, at least be properly informed. Otherwise you’re just alarming people for nothing, as if the public wasn’t confused enough about all this. I called their call centre and got the correct data. So, IT DOESN’T COST 40 Euros to open an account!!!! That’s the pre pay amount, if you want such a contract. Just like mobile phones, you pay 40 euros and talk until the money’s gone, than you top up again. But if you don’t want that, you don’t have to. You just get a video account and don’t pay any fees except the toll, 2.50 every time, and the money is taken from your account, no hassle. If you want a tag, you pay 1 euro a month for it and the toll fee is 2 euro each time. It depends what suits you better. So, next time before you panic just take the time to make a phone call, it will save you a lot of trouble and stress.
Hi Wanna,
I’m sorry but the article is not wrong. You obviously have read it completely out of context.
It does cost €40 to open an account if you want to avail of the low €2 fee.
As I noted at the bottom of the article, if you want to register for the video account, it’s free, but you will only get through the toll for €2.50, NOT the €2 being advertised.
So please before you jump to conclusions, please read the article in full.
Tom
I have enquired and the 40 EURO is a start up amount of credit which can be used for future passages so it is not a fee, just wanted to eliminate any misunderstandings.
[...] “For your fist year driving through the M50 toll, it will cost you a minimum of €40. If you go through more than 14 times in the year, your minimum cost will be €70. So in the time it takes you to spend €70 at the moment you will get through the toll 35 times compared to just 14 in the first year with the eFlow system.” Tom Doyle Talk [...]
I work for a car rental company (Thrifty Car Rental) and this is a nightmare. Great points on the yearly charges and false advertising. Can you imagine passing through the toll on the way back to the airport and having to find the pay station in the airport? The NRA want to the car rental companies to act as toll collectors…
I have just checked my account that we signed up for as living southside working at the airport etc etc and we are being charged 4.10 for each passing?????? I thought it was €2 ifyou registered. Furthermore that is correct re the side roads…. you get a gizmo in a holder that you stick on your screen - the idea is that we all crash as we slide these things in the holders to go through - as they will clock up if you are in the vicinity - hence you are to replace it in the metalized bag!!! I look forward to the pile Ups!!!! This is crazy….
Hi
I went trhough the toll twice in the last month and hardly ever use it so wont be getting any tags. I paid immediatly online both times and still recieved a demand for payment after. The letters I got incidently were four A4 pages heavy duty paper. They must have a huge carbon footprint and and even bigger wallett to be sending that stuff out to every tagless car that goes through the toll.Its typical anyway ,In Ireland we should expect to be treated this way it comes from the top down and of course people just moan and then pay. Its the Celtic cute whore syndrome.
P.S. What alternative routes are good for getting from D24 to Airport
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