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 would like to apart of this class action. I. Willing to pay for the tolls but the fee is ridiculous. Highway robbery. A parking ticket in NYC IS CHEAPER. im disabled. I cant pay this and I need a car to go to the doctors. I have over 10 doctors I see.
I am a victim of this . I recently got paperwork saying my ezpass account has been sent to Transworld collection and I must pay 32,000 ! I am a student and there the extra fees they include is not right at all!! How can we fight this! Is there a lawsuit for this ?
The same thing happened to me and they suspended my registration. At first I was told the total was $3000 and out of the I only owed $800 in tolls the remaining balance was due to administration fees. I ended up paying 1800 and now they’re saying I owe $17,000. I contacted a lawyer who is willing to help with this the cost is $1700 with 3payments of $583 or $1500 if paying in full. I think you should contact a lawyer and let them work on it. I’ve contacted transworld and was told if I paid $1500 they would drop the admin fees if the managers approval which never happened
I would like to be a part of this lawsuit. My daughter and I are victims as well. My daughter was presented with a job opportunity on the east coast. When you arrived things did not go as planned and the job fell through which left her stranded in NY for a few months. During that time she was working part time trying to save enough money to get out of there. Well while there she incurred tolls and did not realize it until the bills came piling in.
Fast forward, tolls were paid in their entirety and now there is suddenly a bill for 6000 in admin fees. I cosigned the car, so they are all in my name. This is very unethical. Seems as though these bills affect the poor.
I would like to join this class action suite. I have 9 violations from 2-3 years ago for going back and forth over the WhiteStone Bridge. Charges were $8.50 each way. They added $100 to each one totaling nearly $1,000. I’d be happy to pay the actually toll charges owed. But not $900 extra in violations
I would like to be a part of this class action…Excessive tolls and fees that miraculously appear.
I also would like to be a part of this,
I would like to join this class action lawsuit they say I owe $9000 in tolls for cross the bridge and a collection agency is involved. This is highway robbery.
Same this is crazy
This is so unfair and unconstitutional. How are they allowed to charge this much money in fees? Instead of reaching out to people about this before it gets to registration suspensions or working out payment plans with people, they wait until it’s in double digit numbers. This is robbery. I want to be apart of this Class action lawsuit.
The MTA board is a bunch of corrupt, biz and political hacks and have been running that agency to the ground, while milking it for their own political and financial well being. BridgeGate anybody?
They have to pay for their malfeasance some how. I’m not paying a fee which is illegal for any other industry or company. And how is it that this one company now requires mandatory usage? Just because I’m driving a vehicle across a bridge or tunnel I have to use a service from a company that is bankrupt? And then they can charge whatever they want when I could have just paid with a couple dollar bills and quarters?
The fix is in!!
I also want to be part of this class action suit. I go through a toll where there is no way to pay except EZ Pass. The machine does not recognize my EZ Pass. By the time I get my first notice of toll due, I already owe a $100 fine. Someone please contact me on how to legally join this suit.
Hiw to we join this lawsuit
IM IN THE SAME SITUATION, I RECEVIED A LETTER FOR 1100 IN TOLLS BUT THE FEES TOTAL 11800 DOLLARS.. ITS INSANE… HOW DO WE TAKE CARE OF THIS, THIS IS THEFT
I would like to be part of this lawsuit. I have been charged $68.35 for a toll that was charged to my EZ Pass account and paid the day I used it. I have a toll fee for the return trip as well. I sent in all documents to dispute the charge two months ago and just today received a letter stating it was in collections. I have tried calling customer service and get disconnected every time due to “high call volume and COVID.” There is no email and no other way to fight this. I called the number on the letter for the attorney’s office and there is a recording stating they no longer represent NYS as of September 16, 2020. The letter was mailed on November 5, 2020.
I need help also! They are claiming I have 117 violations even at $20 (which is really $15) it would $2340. They want $8,153.98, Or, one lump payment of $3,600. Where am I supposed to get that kind of money? That is insane and robbery doesn’t even come close to describing this. When I asked if I can make monthly payments they stated that they could only reduce it to $5,200.
Does anyone have any heart anymore?