Tx Tag Upgrade Accidentally Charged Customers Over Eleven Million Dollars in Fees

Tx Tag Upgrade Accidentally Charged Customers Over Eleven Million Dollars in Fees

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Upgrade the system they said, it will be better they said.

Working in radio, I know a system upgrade can mess things up. I think we have done it three or four times since I've worked here. Usually something goes wrong in the process. Nine times out of ten, it is something minor, but that one time can really mess things up. For instance IBM was upgrading the Tx Tag system for customers, then customers began getting charged for roads they didn't go down.

The tolls in question were charged between October 2020 and January 2021. Looks like in that time, customers racked up around 11.7 million dollars in overcharges. “We take the responsibility of providing a quality and trusted customer experience very seriously, and regret the impact and inconvenience these past many months of lackluster IBM service have had on our toll road users,” said TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams in a statement last week. “We will continue to keep customers apprised on our progress to improve our customers’ interactions with TxTag. Our customers deserve better and we are committed to ensuring that they receive that going forward.”

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TxDOT also announced their partnership with IBM has officially been terminated. IBM has also been fined six million dollars for contractual obligations not being met. An IBM spokesperson said the company disagreed with TxDOT’s decision to cut ties, adding that the state was culpable for problems with the upgrade.

“The success of any information technology project depends on each of the participants fulfilling its obligations. IBM’s performance on this project has been hampered by the inability of TxDOT to do so,” said the spokesperson. “Despite TxDOT’s failure, IBM’s performance and the system IBM has implemented far exceed operational requirements anticipated when the contract was signed to the benefit of Texas motorists.”

Looks like SAP Software Solutions and the Department of Information Resources Managed Security Services is now in charge of the toll tag system. We have heard how toll tag is the future and being able to pay a toll using cash or change in the future will be going away in a few years.

Stories like this make people worried for that day.

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