Senate Bill S1843

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1843

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting
rental vehicle companies from imposing any fees, charges or penalties,
other than the actual cost of a toll, on an authorized driver for such
driver's use of a rental vehicle

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends section 396-z of the general business law
by adding a new section 13-b. This new section would prevent rental
vehicle companies from charging any fees, charges or penalties, other
than the actual cost of a toll, on an authorized driver for that driv-
er's use of a rental vehicle through a toll collection facility that
uses an electronic toll collection system.

Section 2 of the bill is the effective date.

 
              

JUSTIFICATION:

New York State has begun the transition away from traditional tollbooths
on our roads towards an automatic tolling system. The system uses a
camera to take a picture of the vehicle's license plate, and subsequent-
ly sends the bill to the driver of the vehicle.  The new system helps to
ease traffic congestion, helps the environment by reducing emissions
from idling cars in lines, and saves hours of driving time for commu-
ters.

An unintended consequence of this technology is some rental car compa-
nies treat camera-generated bills as traffic violations, such as when a
driver passes through a red light that is equipped with a camera. The
bill is outsourced to another company that charges the renter of the car
the fee for the toll, and a processing fee on top of the original toll
fee. This practice forces renters to pay more than their fair share for
travel.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that tollbooths will be removed from
all Metropolitan Transportation Authority bridges and tunnels starting
in 2017. As New York abandons traditional tollbooths for the new elec-
tronic system, the issue of unfairly imposed fees from camera-generated
tolls will affect more New Yorkers who choose to rent a car to travel.

By refusing to allow rental car companies to impose any fees, charges,
or penalties other than the actual cost of a toll, this bill will elimi-
nate the inequity between drivers using their personal vehicles, and
those travelling in rental vehicles.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.5910 of 2017-2018 (Hoylman): Died in Consumer Protection

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become law; provided that the amendments to section 396-z of the general
business law made by section one of this act shall survive the expira-
tion and reversion of such section as provided in section 4 of chapter
656 of the laws of 2002, as amended.