A report issued Sunday by City Comptroller Scott Stringer found that car rental companies cheat New York City customers through their E-Z pass fees.
Stringer said customers are given two choices when they rent a car in New York: go without an E-Z pass and pay cash at tolls, or choose the rental car company’s E-Z pass program. In the latter case, consumers have paid between 82% to 270% more on tolls if they are on a four-day round-trip from New York City to upstate New York.
“Rental car companies are sticking consumers with huge ‘convenience’ charges that turn E-Z Pass into ‘Expensive Pass’, and that’s bad news for the thousands of New Yorkers who are planning to rent a car to see family and friends this holiday season,” he said in a statement.
Stringer recommended that tolling agencies work with car rental companies to create a low cost alternative, and called on the state to create a law that makes the E-Z pass fees transparent and reasonable.
Enterprise and Hertz, two of the companies mentioned in the report, could not be reached for comment at press time.
