BILL NUMBER: S9737A
SPONSOR: KAVANAGH
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public authorities law and 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
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To prevent rental vehicle companies from charging any fees, charges, or
penalties, other than the actual cost of a toll for use of a rental
vehicle through a toll collection facility that uses an electronic toll
collection system.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends subdivision 10 of section 2985 of the
public authorities law to clarify that rental vehicle companies shall
not be treated as lessors for purposes of toll collection liability and
that renters shall be directly responsible for toll violations incurred
during the rental period.
Section two of the bill amends section 396-z of the general business law
by adding new subdivision 13-b to prohibit rental vehicle companies from
imposing any fees, charges, or penalties on renters in connection with
electronic toll collection systems, other than the actual cost of the
toll itself, while requiring such companies to remit collected tolls to
the appropriate public authority.
Section three of the bill sets forth 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 that some rental car
companies 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.
As New York abandons traditional toll booths for the electronic 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 eliminate the ineq-
uity between drivers using their personal vehicles, and those travelling
in rental vehicles.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2026: S9737 (Kavanagh) - Advanced to Third Reading A4665 (Jackson) -
Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection
2025: S2691(Hoylman-Sigal)- Referred to Consumer Protection A4665 (Jack-
son) - Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection
2024: S1533 (Hoylman-Sigal) - Referred to Consumer Protection A3796
(Gunther) - Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection
2023: S1533 (Hoylman-Sigal) - Referred to Consumer Protection A3796
(Gunther) - Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection
2022: S0363 (Hoylman-Sigal) - Referred to Consumer Protection A3485
(Gunther) - Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection
2021: S0363 (Hoylman-Sigal) - Referred to Consumer Protection A3485
(Gunther) - Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection
2020: S1843 (Hoylman-Sigal) - Referred to Consumer Protection A6233
(Gunther) - Reported to Ways and Means
2019: S1843 (Hoylman-Sigal) - Advanced to Third Reading A6233 (Gunther)
- Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection
2018: S5910 (Hoylman-Sigal) - Referred to Consumer Protection
2017: S5910 (Hoylman-Sigal) - Referred to Consumer Protection
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law; provided that the amendments to section 396-z of the
general business law made by section one of this act shall survive the
expiration and reversion of such section as provided in section 4 of
chapter 109 of the laws of 2018, as amended.

Statutes affected:
S9737: 396-z general business law
S9737A: 2985 public authorities law, 2985(10) public authorities law, 396-z general business law