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fter being postponed for years, the Jakarta administration has recently set its sights on implementing the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system as an attempt to ease severe traffic congestion in the capital, by the time the first phase of the MRT system is fully operational next year.

Jakarta Transportation Agency deputy head Sigit Widjatmoko said on Tuesday that the ERP system, as regulated in Jakarta Bylaw No. 5/2014 on transportation, should be implemented after the introduction of proper public transportation such as the MRT.

“The ERP system is expected to be applied once the MRT is operational,” he told The Jakarta Post at his office in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

The first stage of the MRT project, a 16-kilometer route from Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, is expected to be completed in March 2019. The service is predicted to accommodate at least 350,000 commuters every day.

“The implementation of the ERP system aims to encourage the public to shift from driving private vehicles to taking public transportation, which will result in reduced traffic congestion,” Sigit said.

The ERP technology will first be installed from the Senayan traffic circle to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, matching the MRT route. After that, the route will be extended to Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, also in Central Jakarta.

The city administration is currently in the process of selecting companies that will provide the ERP technology. As many as 57 companies have already registered to take part in the bidding process.

Jakarta Transportation Agency head Andri Yansyah explained previously that one of the criteria for passing the selection process was that the companies needed to have technology that had been “proven in the world’s top countries.” Another criterion was to obtain certification from the Communications and Information Ministry.

“Both criteria, proven and certified, are essential,” Andri said.

Initiated in 2013 by then Jakarta governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the ERP system faced many hurdles including a lack of regulation and problematic bidding.

The system did not have a legal basis back in 2013, forcing the central government and the city administration to create one. It took at least one year for the institutions to complete the necessary legal instruments in the form of a law, a government regulation and a bylaw by 2014.

In the same year, two out of three companies vying to provide the ERP technology — Sweden-based road telematics company Kapsch TrafficCom and Norway-based company Q-Free — installed prototypes of ERP gantries on Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Rasuna Said, respectively, to show that their products were suitable for the city’s traffic.

However, the bidding process was canceled following monopoly allegations.

Jakarta Gubernatorial Regulation No. 149/2016 on traffic control and the ERP system, issued by then governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, was deemed discriminatory by the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) because it specified that a particular technology be implemented.

The regulation stated that the ERP system should use dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) with a frequency of 5.8 gigahertz, something which very few companies have. Both Kapsch and Q-Free used that kind of technology.

The KPPU argued the limitation violated the 1999 Antimonopoly Law because there were various other technologies the ERP system could use, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) or global positioning system (GPS).

The city administration, under the leadership of acting governor Sumarsono removed the technology from the ERP bidding requirements. As a result, the bidding process needed to start all over again.