The electronic toll market has a new actor, who “steals” the show from Telepass, or rather, puts an end to the very long monopoly of the automatic payment of motorway tolls sector. We are talking about the Unipol Group, which becomes Telepass’s direct competitor for the first time.
And this happens just shortly after the announcement by the historic company – which took place only a few days ago, we talked about it – the increase in the tariffs of the Telepass subscriptions. The service that allows you to overcome motorway barriers with automatic payment (debit to the linked current account), without having to waste time queuing at the toll booths, has a new rival.
The announcement by the Unipol Group
In an official company note it is possible to read how the Bolognese company gave the big announcement, which concerns precisely the launch of Unipolmove, a device that will give all motorists – and not only – the possibility of choosing an alternative to Telepass. A new device that allows you to pay the motorway toll electronically, which follows the Telepass model that we have all known for years (with discounts for motorcyclists)and which also allows users to pay various other additional services, such as car tax, fines, refueling at the fuel pump, ZTL, blue parking and much more.
For those unfamiliar with Unipol, which is rare, we can say that it is the first company in the TPL sector in Italy. For this reason I will certainly use all his contacts, the customers of insurance policies, to promote and push subscriptions of the new Unipolmove service, which for the first six months will be offered free to owners, and then it will only cost. one euro per month. A great saving compared to Telepass which, as we have seen, in the face of the increase, costs about 22 euros per year.
Giacomo Lovati, Chief Beyond Insurance Officer of UnipolSai, declared: “We are the first operator to have obtained certification with the new European regulation for the European Electronic Toll Service. So, strong of ours 10 million auto insurance customers to which we can offer the product, we have entered a market where until yesterday there were no alternatives “. A completely new service for the Unipol Group, which therefore expands the offer of the company, established in the sector of insurance policies and related roadside assistance and rescue services, as well as in the repair and maintenance and damage of the vehicle, the sale of used cars on site and long-term rental.
Speaking of Telepass and recent price increases
As we have seen in recent days, starting from 1 July 2022 everything changes: Telepass Family and Twin Option will have higher costs. And so, with a unilateral modification of the contract, the company has decided to increase the monthly fee also for those who are already subscribers. Anyone who wants to withdraw, in order not to suffer the increase, can do so by June 30, before the start of the period with new rates.
The company, in the note to customers, explained the following: “The proposed unilateral amendment of the contract is dictated by the need to increase – for the first time since the launch of the Telepass Family in 1997 – the fees of the Telepass Family and of the Twin option (if active) “. The expected increase will be 0.57 euros per month (VAT included) for the Family and 0.28 euros (VAT included) for the Twin including the Premium Option / Italian Roadside Assistance. The press release continues: “This increase would be determined by the progressive change in the technological, market and organizational context in which Telepass operates”; and continues: “The unilateral amendment proposal introduces some further provisions, on the payment instruments of tolls and on invoicing, aimed at adapting the methods of providing the service to technological and regulatory development”.
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