Ignoring Your New York Thruway Tolls?- Here’s What Could Happen

What happens if you don't pay the balance on tolls on the New York State Thruway? That was the question asked on Reddit, and we have answers.

Here's the story from the Syracuse Reddit Subreddit:

I got EZ Pass during COVID when the thruway switched to the automated system. I registered all my vehicles and put the devices on all my vehicles. I don't drive on the thruway often, but when I do, it automatically charges my checking account.

I recently got a bill showing that I owe hundreds of dollars. Like under $4.00 total for actual tolls, and five violation fines for $52 each for missing the payments I'm only now hearing about for the first time. This is absolutely crazy. Reaching them on the phone took several days of trying, and it was a total nightmare. I paid my actual tolls and managed to get most of the violations waived, but they mentioned there were more charges in collections, and gave me the info on a collections agency they'd been sent to. Now I'm finding out there's even more of these charges from years back with another group of another cluster of $52.00 charges. One of the sets of charges came from a license plate number that's never been associated with me! (And I haven't rented a car since 2018.) They gave me the process to dispute it, which will take a full afternoon to entertain and I have no faith it will lead to anything but more frustration.

In the process, I asked them if this was going to hit my credit score, and they said no - they don't report to the credit bureaus. I'm not happy about owing a balance, but if they're not reporting these accounts, what happens if I just don't pay them?"

So What Happens If You Don't Pay?

Tolls By Mail NY says that payments must be received by the due date to avoid additional fees. If TOLL BILL(s) are not paid by the due date, additional fee is added and the due date is extended. If they are still not paid by the new extended due date, this would be sent to Violations.

Democrat and Chronicle also adds that if you don't pay it by the second due date, it becomes what's known as a "toll violation," which carries a $50 fine per trip.

From there, a motorist has 15 days to pay the violation or risk it being sent to a collection agency.

If you fail to respond to three toll violations in a five-year period, the state can suspend your vehicle registration under state law.