A class action lawsuit has been filed in New York federal court against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and other entities, alleging that consumers are facing exorbitant penalties from tolls.
Plaintiff Jason Farina of Westchester County, N.Y., filed the MTA class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and others who have been charged $100 fees from using New York’s cashless toll systems: EZ Pass and Tolls-By-Mail.
According to the New York toll fees class action lawsuit, all MTA bridges and tunnels switched to cashless toll collecting in 2017. Because of this change, drivers are no longer able to pay cash as toll booths have been dismantled. Instead, tolls are charged using EZ Pass or Tolls-By-Mail.
The EZ Pass tag is a transponder which communicates with the system’s antenna to record information and process a charge for the toll, which is charged to the vehicle owner’s EZ Pass account. If a vehicle is not linked to an EZ Pass account, the Tolls-By-Mail system collects the toll by taking a picture of the vehicle and its license plate, which is used to identify the vehicle owner. A bill for the toll is subsequently mailed to the vehicle owner.
The cashless toll system was meant to eliminate traffic congestion in toll booth lines and allow MTA to shift its employees from collecting tolls into roles focused on the safety and security of motorists.
“However, Defendants — who operate those systems and collect tolls from drivers — have used the cashless toll system to line their own pockets at the expense of drivers, primarily by collecting improper fees and penalties in addition to collecting the tolls,” the MTA toll fee class action lawsuit says.
Farina claims that the penalties faced by drivers who do not pay the toll are often substantially higher than the actual toll and may result in drivers being charged more than $100 to cross a bridge or tunnel. Even worse, the defendants impose these fines without giving prior notice to the drivers and wait weeks before notifying them about the penalties. In the meantime, drivers may unknowingly rack up more charges.
“Defendants also aggressively pursue collection efforts against motorists, threatening them with adverse credit reports, suspension of the driver’s license, revocation of their vehicle registration, and seizure of their tax refunds if they do not immediately pay the fees,” Farina alleges in the MTA toll fee class action lawsuit.
Farina claims that he has been charged more than $6,000 from October 2017 to January 2018 by using his EZ Pass on New York’s bridges and tunnels. He claims he never had any significant problems with his EZ Pass tags or account before experiencing these penalties.
Farina says the defendants’ equipment routinely fails to recognize EZ Pass even when a driver has a fully-funded EZ Pass account. He notes that EZ Pass readings can fail for a variety of reasons, such as window tinting, the position of the vehicle, or a dead EZ Pass battery. EZ Pass users are unable to know when the defendants’ equipment fails to read the EZ Pass.
The MTA class action lawsuit says the toll fees are unconstitutional.
Farina is represented by Stephen J. Fearon Jr. of Squitieri & Fearon LLP.
The MTA Toll Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Jason Farina v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-01433, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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370 thoughts onEZ Pass Class Action Alleges N.Y. Consumers Face Unconstitutional Toll Fees
My two sisters and my car are all linked and have received tolls commuting from long island to the Bronx. Together we have received THOUSANDS in tolls. I’ve lost count, more than 10,000 at the very least from crossing the bridge twice a day for a year. I have no idea what to do. This is horrific. Between this and the traffic cops in the Bronx, the city is ruining our lives financially. My plates were stolen they ticketed me with a notice in the windshield. And when I tried to fight it they denied my appeal citing lack of evidence despite submitting the notice signed by a police officer. They are thieves. They make all of their money by stealing from average hard working people. Our lives can be ruined over this. There is no way we can ever afford to pay this. How do we join this lawsuit? What can we do to fix this before we lose our cars and our credit? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
I am also being charged outrageous fees after 2 years driving the same car… apparantly my plates were never listed with my ezpass and only after a faulty device they are charging me crazy fees…
I need help and want to be a part of this. They made a mistake, have admitted that is was on their part but I still have to pay high fines.
Do we have to call the Attorney Stephen J. Fearon to join this class action lawsuit? His phone number online is (212) 490-9100.
Farina is represented by Stephen J. Fearon Jr. of Squitieri & Fearon LLP.
The MTA Toll Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Jason Farina v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-01433, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
This is plain extortion and bulling of hard working citizens into paying exaggerated amount of money for toll that are just a few dollars. If you write to dispute the charges there is no response and they add some extra fees on top of the already added ridiculous fees. How can this agency get away with this kind of abuse? Apparently it has been happening for a while and they have been getting away with it. We need to start writing to the governor and the Mayor. Who oversees this agency? Someone is filling up their pocket robbing the people in NY.
I want to be part of this. Charged 1,800 one one statement. I had no idea! They ruined my credit report. I paid all the toll fees. They charged my account the replenish amount and then said my acct was low. I need help. I cannot afford to keep paying 184.00 each time i go over the bridge from my CT residence. Please!!
I have received numerous of fines in the for years fro. EZ Pass, I’ve paid them in full, they have charged me double for my motorcycle as well. What can I do?
This is infuriating. I pass through a toll WITH my transponder, it doesn’t get picked up. The first notification I get is for the toll AND a fine of something like $150. It takes me HOURS on the telephone and several weeks of mailing documents before it gets resolved. Most people would just give up and pay to save the hassle. This most certainly a clear case of extortion! I wish total success for this lawsuit. If there is anything I can do, please let me know!
They send you the violation but don’t send you the bill so that you can pay the toll. Very much ripping people off
I have never received a toll bill but they are stating that I owe thousands in violations! How are u sending out the violations and calling and harassing for those to be paid but aren’t making sure the consumer is getting the actual bill on time or even at all! I need to be apart of this class action suit I’m a full time student a single mom of 3 young children and the caretaker for a sick parent there is no room for me to get my registration suspended for their mistakes and greed!