N.Y. Public Authorities Law § 2985-a: Payment of tolls under the tolls by mail program

* § 2985-a. Payment of tolls under the tolls by mail program. 1. This

section shall not apply to the payment of tolls by means of an

electronic toll device that transmits information through an electronic

toll collection system as defined in subdivision twelve of section

twenty-nine hundred eighty-five of this title.

2. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the

following meanings:

(a) "Cashless tolling facility" shall mean a toll roadway, bridge or

tunnel facility that does not provide for the immediate on-site payment

in cash of a toll owed for the use of such facility.

(b) "Owner" shall mean any person, corporation, partnership, firm,

agency, association, lessor or organization who, at the time of

incurring an obligation to pay a toll at a cashless tolling facility,

and with respect to the vehicle identified in the toll bill or notice of

violation: (i) is the beneficial or equitable owner of such vehicle; or

(ii) has title to such vehicle; or (iii) is the registrant or

co-registrant of such vehicle which is registered with the department of

motor vehicles of this state or any other state, territory, district,

province, nation or other jurisdiction; or (iv) subject to the

limitations set forth in subdivision ten of section twenty-nine hundred

eighty-five of this title, uses such vehicle in its vehicle renting

and/or leasing business; or (v) is a person entitled to the use and

possession of a vehicle subject to a security interest in another

person.

(c) "Toll bill" shall mean a notice sent to an owner notifying such

owner that the owner's vehicle has been used or operated in or upon a

cashless tolling facility and the owner has incurred an obligation to

pay a toll.

(d) "Notice of violation" shall mean a notice sent to an owner

notifying such owner that a toll incurred at a cashless tolling facility

by the owner has not been paid at the place and time and in the manner

established for collection of such toll in the toll bill and that an

administrative violation fee is being imposed for each such unpaid toll.

(e) "Billing cycle" shall mean a period not to exceed thirty calendar

days once tolls have posted for purposes of consolidated toll billing.

(f) "Initial billing cycle" shall mean a period not to exceed fifteen

business days after identifying the owner or other party responsible for

paying the toll for the purpose of consolidated toll billing for an

obligation to pay a toll bill for the first time at a cashless tolling

facility in a six-month period.

(g) "Tolls by mail program" shall mean any program operated by or on

behalf of a public authority to send a toll bill to an owner whose

vehicle crosses a cashless tolling facility without a valid electronic

device that successfully transmits information through an electronic

toll collection system as defined in subdivision twelve of section

twenty-nine hundred eighty-five of this title.

(h) "Declaration of dispute" shall mean a submission by an owner

disputing all or any portion of a toll, fee, penalty, or other

obligation incurred by an owner whose vehicle crosses a cashless tolling

facility, in such form as the public authority shall provide in

regulations and through display on the authority's website.

3. In the case of an owner who incurs an obligation to pay a toll for

the first time in six months under the tolls by mail program at a

cashless tolling facility, a toll bill shall be sent within ten business

days after the end of the initial billing cycle and of each subsequent

billing cycle. In the case of all other owners incurring an obligation

to pay a toll at a cashless tolling facility, a toll bill shall be sent

at the end of the next billing cycle. Toll bills shall be sent to the

owner by first class mail, and may additionally be sent by electronic

means of communication upon the affirmative consent of the owner, by or

on behalf of the public authority which operates such cashless tolling

facility. The owner shall have thirty days from the date of the toll

bill to pay the incurred toll. The toll bill shall include: (i) the

total amount of the incurred tolls due, (ii) the date by which payment

of the incurred tolls is due, (iii) any administrative fees, (iv) the

address for receipt of payment and methods of payment for the toll, (v)

the procedure for contesting any toll and the contact information for

the relevant toll payer advocate office and customer service center,

(vi) information related to the failure to timely pay or respond to the

notice of liability, in addition to the possibility that a judgment can

be entered for repeat unpaid liabilities that could lead to a vehicle

being towed or immobilized, (vii) a website address or hyperlink for the

owner to access time-stamped photographs or footage of each toll

incurred by electronic means, (viii) information related to the

availability of the toll payer advocate to discuss payment options, and

(ix) other information required by law or by the public authority. Each

toll bill shall identify the date, time, location, license plate number,

and jurisdiction of the license plate for each toll that has been

incurred. Each toll bill shall include an image of the license plate of

the vehicle being used or operated on the toll facility. If the owner

fails to pay the initial toll bill, a second toll bill shall be sent in

the next billing cycle, which shall also indicate the overdue toll or

tolls and any administrative or late fees due.

4. In the case of an owner who does not pay a toll incurred under the

tolls by mail program on a cashless facility at the place and time and

in the manner established for collection of such toll in the second toll

bill, a notice of violation shall be sent notifying the owner that the

toll is unpaid and administrative violation fees are being imposed. The

notice of violation shall be sent to the owner by first class mail, and

may additionally be sent by electronic means of communication upon the

affirmative consent of the owner, by or on behalf of the public

authority which operates such cashless tolling facility. The notice of

violation shall include: (i) the total amount of unpaid tolls and

administrative violation fees due, (ii) the date by which payment of the

tolls and administrative violation fees is due, (iii) the address for

receipt of payment and methods of payment for the toll, (iv) the

procedure for contesting any toll and the contact information for the

relevant toll payer advocate office and customer service center, (v)

information related to the failure to timely pay or respond to the

notice of liability, in addition to the possibility that a judgment can

be entered for repeat unpaid liabilities that could lead to a vehicle

being towed or immobilized, (vi) a website address or hyperlink for the

owner to access time-stamped photographs or footage of each toll

incurred by electronic means, (vii) information related to the

availability of the toll payer advocate to discuss payment options, and

(viii) other information required by law or by the public authority.

Each notice of violation shall identify the date, time, location,

license plate number, and jurisdiction of the license plate for each

unpaid toll that has been incurred.

5. Any fee or administrative violation fee that is assessed on a

notice of violation pursuant to subdivision four of this section shall

be dismissed if the notice of violation was not sent within ninety days

of the second toll bill, provided that any toll or tolls incurred remain

due and payable and provided further that such dismissal shall not apply

in the event that exceptional circumstances, including but not limited

to technological failures, have delayed the timely mailing of the notice

of violation and the public authority has posted notice of such

circumstances prominently on its website within a reasonable time of

becoming aware of such circumstances, which shall be adequate record of

such circumstances.

6. Any toll bill or notice of violation required to be sent pursuant

to this section by first class mail may also be sent, with consent of

the owner, by electronic means of communication by or on behalf of the

public authority. It shall be the sole responsibility of the owner to

provide and update the address used for electronic means of

communication to the owner by the public authority. A manual or

automatic record of electronic communications prepared in the ordinary

course of business shall be adequate record of electronic notice.

7. Any owner who incurs an obligation to pay a toll under the tolls by

mail program at a public authority's cashless tolling facility shall

have an option to receive alerts by electronic means of communication

that a toll has been incurred. Such alerts shall be provided to the

owner who has elected to receive such alerts no more than seventy-two

hours after the owner is identified. Each public authority shall create

an online registration for an electronic means of communication alert

that a toll has been incurred under the tolls by mail program at a

cashless tolling facility. In the event an owner chooses to receive an

electronic means of communication alert of a toll incurred, it shall be

the owner's sole responsibility to provide and update any mobile

numbers, electronic mail addresses, or any other addresses used for

electronic means of communication to which alerts are sent. A manual or

automatic record of electronic communications prepared in the ordinary

course of business shall be adequate record of electronic notice.

8. If an owner receives a notice of violation pursuant to this section

for any time period during which the vehicle was reported to the police

department as having been stolen, it shall be a valid defense to an

allegation of liability for a violation of toll collection regulations

that the vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior to the

time the violation occurred and had not been recovered by such time. If

an owner receives a notice of violation pursuant to this section for any

time period during which the vehicle was stolen, but not as yet reported

to the police as having been stolen, it shall be a valid defense to an

allegation of liability for a violation of toll collection regulations

pursuant to this section that the vehicle was reported as stolen within

two hours after the discovery of the theft by the owner. For purposes of

asserting the defense provided by this subdivision it shall be

sufficient that a certified copy of the police report on the stolen

vehicle be sent by first class mail to the court or other entity having

jurisdiction.

9. An owner who is a lessor of a vehicle to which a notice of

violation was issued pursuant to subdivision four of this section shall

not be liable for the violation of the toll collection regulations

provided the owner sends to the public authority serving the notice of

violation and to the court or other entity having jurisdiction a copy of

the rental, lease or other such contract document covering such vehicle

on the date of the violation, with the name and address of the lessee

clearly legible, within thirty days after receiving the original notice

of violation. Failure to send such information within such thirty-day

time period shall render the lessor liable for the penalty prescribed by

this section. Where the lessor complies with the provisions of this

subdivision, the lessee of such vehicle on the date of such violation

shall be deemed to be the owner of such vehicle for purposes of this

section and shall be subject to liability for the violation of the toll

collection regulations, provided that the public authority mails a

notice of violation to the lessee within ten business days after the

public authority deems the lessee to be the owner. For purposes of this

subdivision the term "lessor" shall mean any person, corporation, firm,

partnership, agency, association or organization engaged in the business

of renting or leasing vehicles to any lessee under a rental agreement,

lease or otherwise wherein the said lessee has the exclusive use of said

vehicle for any period of time. For purposes of this subdivision, the

term "lessee" shall mean any person, corporation, firm, partnership,

agency, association or organization that rents, leases or contracts for

the use of one or more vehicles and has exclusive use thereof for any

period of time.

10. Except as provided in subdivision nine of this section, if a

person receives a notice of violation pursuant to this section it shall

be a valid defense to an allegation of liability for a violation of toll

collection regulations that the individual who received the notice of

violation pursuant to this section was not the owner of the vehicle at

the time the violation occurred. If the owner liable for a violation of

toll collection regulations pursuant to this section was not the

operator of the vehicle at the time of the violation, the owner may

maintain an action for indemnification against the operator.

11. Any public authority that operates a cashless tolling facility

shall: (i) maintain a website and toll-free phone number for any person

to receive updated information on any tolls or fees which are

outstanding; and (ii) establish procedures for owners to dispute any

tolls and violation fees incurred in connection with toll bills,

including a requirement that written determinations in such disputes

shall be issued within forty-five days of receipt of the owner's

declaration of dispute. Such information shall be prominently displayed

on such public authority's toll bills, notices of violation and website.

12. Every public authority that operates a cashless tolling facility

shall develop policies and procedures for the establishment on a

case-by-case basis of a written payment plan agreement for an owner's

unpaid tolls and administrative violation fees incurred at a cashless

tolling facility, subject to the availability of sufficient resources

for the public authority to administer such payment plans. Information

related to payment plans shall be made available upon the owner's

request to the public authority's customer service center. The public

authority shall not charge any additional amount or fee for enrollment

in a payment plan agreement. Owners shall fully comply with all payment

plan agreement terms and conditions and shall be subject to payment plan

agreement default provisions.

13. Every public authority that operates a cashless tolling facility

shall establish an office of such authority's toll payer advocate,

designed to further assist owners who remain unsatisfied after first

attempting resolution in writing of their concern with, and receiving

written determination from, such authority's customer service center.

The office of the toll payer advocate shall also endeavor to identify

any systemic issues and recommend reasonable improvements regarding the

use of and process involved with the payment of tolls under the tolls by

mail program at cashless tolling facilities to the public authority.

14. A public authority that operates a cashless tolling facility,

including the officers, employees, contractors and agents of such public

authority, shall not report to a consumer reporting agency, as defined

in 15 U.S.C. § 1681a, any toll, fee, penalty or other obligation

incurred by an owner related to use of a cashless tolling facility.

15. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a public authority from

collecting any toll or fee in the event that an owner does not properly

register a vehicle pursuant to the laws, rules and regulations of this

state, or any other state, territory, district, province, nation or

other jurisdiction.

16. Nothing in this section shall require a public authority to

perform any action or forbear from performing any action that would in

the public authority's sole discretion impair any covenant with the

holders of any of the public authority's bonds, notes or other

obligations.

* NB Effective provided that the state of New Jersey has enacted

legislation having an identical effect (see chapter 56 of 2024, Part WW

Subpart B)