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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
I would like to be part of this lawsuit my registration is suspended due to a lack of communication with mta, i had a payment arrangement that was agreed for me to pay a certain amount a month i was put in default do to them increasing my agreement amount with out any letter or notification as to why this was being done, now i owe over $44,000 and $11,500 to lift the suspension off my registration. this amount is insane and i need help i need my car to support myself.
I would like to be part of this lawsuit. I never receive an EZ Pass toll by mail yet I was slapped with $661 in fines when I do have an EZ Pass. Last year, I was also a victim of EZ Pass fraud. Someone cloned my EZ Pass and racked up over $300 in toll bills that I had to pay. I asked EZ Pass for the person’s license plate # and they refused to provide it. Enough is enough.
I would like to be part of this lawsuit. My main complaint is the use of the word violation and the lack of communication from them regarding the constant racking up of the charges.
I would like to join
My registration was suspended and I never received bills for the tolls and learned today that they put 100 on every toll . They are crippling me . I cannot pay this . It’s doesn’t seem right .
My license is now suspended, they claim I owe about 70k absolute bs
Cobran mucho x errores de sus computadoras ami me suspendieron mi licencia
It is unfair that for the tolls they charge and every year they go up on the toes the service is no better okay but here’s the thing the administration fees are through the roof like really you know something can be glitched wrong with them with their total collecting thing up there that electronic thing could be malfunction or something didn’t want to charge you I outrageous feet $50 to $100 for for administration fees which is not fair you know nobody got that kind of money laying around hey I’m just I just had my registration suspended because of this you know I got no way of getting around to my doctor’s appointment and then I can’t even drive my own car around it’s unfair I’m being treated really really it’s really unfair to me so if I can get some help here please can somebody call me back a lawyer or somebody at a area code 267-997-6378 my name is James Williams Jr thank you
I would like to be a part of this lawsuit. I had my car impounded and I have been hit with $4,000 in fees for tolls. All over less than $250 in tolls!! I cannot pay this. Plus I am now out $7,000 for my vehicle, which I cannot pick up from the impound until I pay the $4k. On top of that the impound is charging me a $700 tow fee plus $27/ day for each day I cannot pay the tolls. This is escalating to a $15,000 incident!!
Same here I want to be apart of this lawsuit because now it’s out of control all for money which doesn’t even be used to improve it only fattens someone’s pockets
Same here. I’m looking to see if there’s any update.
I am having this same issue something has to be done. We America. People barely able to make ends meet and to having to pay hefty fee is ridiculously
Let’s ask the legislators for help
Everybody let’s write to them
Let them make new bill reduce penalty by ten time we are hard working people don’t make the much money they just hurting as
Watch how fast a Judge will strike this down. These are entities exist for the sole purpose of sidestepping the constitution in the name of extorting the public with excessive fines.
The corrupt corporate state is hard at work pillaging the pockets of American. This kind of big billfold/ big government/ big business bullshit is exactly what’s destroying this country. One big unsustainable delusion wiped from the elites ass.
How do I join this lawsuit??? I have tolls from 2 years ago that were apparently unpaid even tough I have a transponder. Now EZ Pass says I owe then $20,000!!!
I have been getting overcharged and misclassified while going thru ezpass tolls. I get my refund and ezpass told me that the problem was fixed but I still get overcharged. Can you help me with this problem? Thank you