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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365 thoughts onEZ Pass Class Action Alleges N.Y. Consumers Face Unconstitutional Toll Fees
I am also facing similar issues. On top of everything, everytime I call customer care say that they don’t know or, disconnect the line. They’re only interested in taking in money. If anyone wants to get together and do a lawsuit, I am down.
They don’t care even if this news comes on New York Times unless they see a group of people in front of the court demanding explanation. This chat room is not gonna get us there. I haven’t seen no political person ready to represent this problem. nobody.
There should be a big protest because they didn’t stop to give violation notice and charge big violation fees. and offer unnecessary penalties like these.
How do I become part of this class action suit? This has been happening to me for years and often never recieved anything in the mail until there were a few tolls listed with many late fees
I want to be part of the class action, these legal criminals needs to be stopped
I am going through this right now they are trying to charge me a $400 penalty for a $30 unpaid toll
Please does anyone know a class action law suit against MTA?
EZ PASS is definitely corrupt. They received my ezpass account cancellation and tag on 4:30am and on the same day sent me a letter saying the account was revoked and tag missing. I continue to get random toll fees and violations that make no sense. Is anyone currently 6/25/2020 seeking a class Action against them that I may join?
I also have been a victim of their predatory and likely illegal fees. I tried to settle with them reasonably. And never evaded any tolls. Whether there is money on my NJ EZ Pass account should be irrelevant. If there is money on it, they should take it. If not, I should get a bill like everyone else who doesn’t have an EZ Pass account. I had a license plate tag but needed to separate my work tolls from my personal ones. So started only funding the account when I took a personal trip. In other states, you only get an evasion penalty if you use an EZ Pass designated lane without money in your account. You have the option of paying it at the booth without removing your tags (especially license plate tags). Since that is not an option in NY, the everyone should get a bill and have the option to charge it to their account or pay another way. There should be no penalty for evading a toll you have no option to pay. Other states simply send you a bill in this situation. Without any penalty. Please forward any info to tinnman27@gmail.com. Thanks
I would love to be part of a lawsuit against tolls by mail. MTA just sent me to collections for a fraudulent toll. My license plates were on my truck that has been broke down in my garage, yet I got a toll for my plates on a completely different truck. I sent them everything they asked for including pictures of my truck with the plates on it, I was even told to surrender my plates and send proof so I did. I was told it was under investigation And they would just need confirm with the dmv that the vehicle in the picture is not the vehicle registered to me and then they received the proof they needed back in December, now it’s May and today I received collections. I called the collections agency and told them the issue and was told it shows as resolved with MTA but I’m still responsible for the amount. $219 for $19 in tolls. Oh and I’ve had ezpass for 7 years and the plates were active on my account yet they still sent me to collections and never even attempted to charge my ezpass.