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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
In exclude me in the class action law suit.
How does $780.00 in tolls become $23,000 in fees and fines. How is the city allowing this!!!!! I’m sick to my stomach and we ( I ) have no one to turn to!
I’ve been told that i owe $5,000. And i told them i need an invoice of all the crossings sent ro me. How can i also join this class action?
How we allow them to do this to as I was charged 10time more for ten dollars they charge me 100$ plus, what is this robbery, let’s say an employer own me back wage I charge him 10time more plus damage , hell legislator want let that happen no no they will cry make thousand reason not to do this , what about as here with toll getting charged ten time amount owned
Thank God someone finally is confronting these tyrants. This thing barely works half the time and the fees for when THEIR equipment malfunctions is YOUR problem
Their current system is inconsistent and has no viable accountability. Please count me in.
They sent a notice stating I owed them $900 for a unpaid $90 toll. I have the money coming out of my acct to ez pass, so how do I owe that amount of money, two years later they’re trying to get the same money from me again. I’m continuously fighting with these ppl. It’s definitely a scam. They never bill you a notice until it reaches thousands of dollars.
I keep up with my bills, especially when they send you a bill in the mail you can not just simply ignore the bill. I as sent one and all I did was to reply to the bill advising them my transponders serial number and went and exchanged the transponder for a new one. All you have to do is make sure your tag is registered where you live so you can get your mail if not have someone responsible at the address you are using to read the mail as it comes in on your behalf. If not your problems just started.
I would also like to be apart of this lawsuit. I have close to 700 in fees. It’s ridiculous $100 added to each ticket. They just automatically charge it.
Then when you try to contact ez pass customer service (which is only open during normal business hours) your on hold for over an hour. Who has time to take off work to call them and still have money to pay the astronomical bills??? How do I sign up for this class action suit?
I’ve also been told that I owe money when in fact I don’t. Please assist.
Same here my registration has been suspended because of this I have 1000 in tolls and over 30,000 in fees. How can I also be added to this lawsuit?