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M6 Toll introduces new major rule change – with many not happy about it
Motorists have been left annoyed by a big change to the M6 Toll which has been branded ’embarrassing’. The new rule has caught out many drivers travelling along the motorway, BirminghamLive reports.
Anyone travelling along the M6 Toll stretch won’t be able to pay the fee using Android or Apple pay. They must use their physical bank card instead of making a contactless payment. Drivers have also revealed how they have been forced to ramble through their wallets as angry drivers wait behind.
Some have spoken out about this change, claiming they had “no idea” that they would be faced with this problem and has left many baffled. It comes as experts predict this bank holiday weekend to be the busiest since 2019, with 20 million trips expected over the period.
Read more: Watch the nailbiting moment HGV veers across M6 and scrapes along crash barrier
According to the RAC, roads could be more busier than normal as the long weekend coincides with the upcoming ‘mini heatwave’. One poster on the Pistonheads.com motoring forum said: “So, heading back down the M6 Toll and see lots of signs in the services for ‘contactless payments preferred at the toll’ and ‘Quickest way’ etc… I think great, I’ll chuck all my stuff in the front and just need my phone.
“Get to the booth and stick my phone on the reader to be told ‘Please enter your card’… Argh! Scan around and see the small notes, the tolls do not accept Apply Pay/Google Wallet payments.
“So I can’t get out of the car, as I’m too close to the booth – hazards on, back up a bit so I can get out, pop the front, get out, grab my wallet, jump back in, faff for card, pull forward, swipe and done. Luckily it was quiet so didn’t p**s anyone off, but what a PITA!”
Another social media user added: “Managed to annoy lots of people on the M6 Toll. Had no idea you couldn’t use your phone to pay and then had the indignity of having to empty the contents of my boot in order to find my wallet, which was buried in the bottom of a suitcase.”
The FAQ section of the M6 Toll website said: “At present, we are unable to accept Android and Apple pay. This is a service we hope to be able to offer our customers in the future.”
Graham Conway, managing director at Select Car Leasing, said: “Lots of us have now transitioned to the point where we use our phones to pay for everything and our wallets rarely see the light of day.
“So the fact that you can’t pay for the M6 Toll with your phone will be a shock to many motorists, particularly bank holiday day trippers who don’t often use that particular motorway. If your wallet is located somewhere you can’t reach it when you reach the toll booth – or worse still, back at home in a drawer – you could end up making bank holiday congestion a whole lot worse while irritating drivers waiting behind. It could get very embarrassing.”
He added: “It might be that the authorities don’t want scores of people reaching for their phones on a busy motorway, as the gadgets can clearly be a distraction when driving. But there is an exception in the legal rules that govern mobile phone use, which says you can use such a device if ‘you’re making a contactless payment in a vehicle that is not moving, for example at a drive-through restaurant’.”
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