Congestion Per-Trip Charge Plan: Bases, Meters & Owners

In short: The per-trip charge plan is a contract between the MTA and the company behind your trips: the FHV base for black cars, livery, luxury limos and app trips, or the technology system provider (TSP) for yellow taxis and green cabs. While that company is enrolled and in good standing, the passenger pays $0.75 per zone trip ($1.50 on Uber/Lyft) and the vehicle pays no daily toll. If it is not enrolled, TLC says the vehicle owner may be charged the $9 toll up to once per day (TLC Industry Notice #24-10).

Drivers don't sign anything. But what your base or meter company does decides whether you or your vehicle's owner ever sees a congestion toll. Rates as of October 12, 2026.

How the money moves

Who signs: base or technology provider

• FHVs: "Enrolling FHVs in the Per-Trip Charge Plan (PTCP) is done through their operating or dispatching bases," which must "execute and deliver the PTCP agreement to the MTA" (MTA).
• Yellow taxis and green cabs: enrollment goes through the TSP "that provide[s] payment technology within the vehicle". TLC adds that for taxis and street hail liveries the per-trip charge must be added to the meter (IN24-10).
• High-volume services (Uber, Lyft): the MTA's posted base agreement defines a base as one "excluding FHVBs that are considered high volume FHVs". High-volume trips carry the $1.50 rate in the toll schedule; their agreement terms are not the document described below.

What the base agreement says

The MTA posts its FHV base agreement (version 12/2024). It is a contract between the base and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. Points that touch drivers and owners:

• Every zone trip, every time. The base must cause the charge to be paid by a passenger on "each and every CBD Trip" and must use geofencing or equally effective technology to apply it correctly (§2.01).
• The base pays even if it didn't collect. Payment is due monthly, within 30 days after the month ends, "irrespective of whether a CBD FHV Toll Charge was collected from a passenger" (§2.01(c)). A missed charge is a "Shortfall" the base owes, with late penalties from 5% up to 30% per charge and interest.
• Cash trips. Where fares are paid in cash and don't pass through the base, the base must use "best efforts" to collect the charge from the driver, vehicle owner, affiliate or other related party, including by offsetting against fare money it holds "where permitted", and keep trying for one year (§2.01(d)).
• No overcharge. The base must not charge any passenger more than the scheduled charge, or charge it on a trip that never touched the zone (§2.04).
• Vehicle list. The base gives the MTA each eligible vehicle's plate, plate state and vehicle type within 3 business days of signing (§3.02). The MTA may remove a vehicle from the plan if no zone trips are reported for it within a reasonable time (without a good, provable reason), or if it has congestion charges unpaid for more than three months under any plan agreement (§3.02).
• Trip records. Each month the base reports every zone trip, with pickup and drop-off times and GPS points and flags for pickup, drop-off or route segment in the zone (Appendix A). Access-A-Ride trips are excluded from the agreement.
• Ending the plan. The MTA can end an agreement after an uncured default, or on 30 days' notice for its convenience (§5.02, §7.15).

These are obligations of the base, not of drivers. But they explain why a base might change how it handles cash trips, and why a vehicle can lose plan coverage.

Not enrolled: the owner may pay the daily toll

TLC's notice: FHVs dispatched by a base without the agreement, and taxis and SHLs using a TSP without it, "may be charged a $9 toll up to once per day paid by the vehicle owner, instead of the per-trip charge paid by the passenger". The MTA's entries data says the same thing in its column notes: taxis and FHVs not charged in a per-trip plan "are tolled by vehicle class" like any other vehicle (t6yz-b64h).

The $9 figure is the Phase 1 peak E-ZPass rate. A vehicle billed as a regular car is charged under the regular car rules: peak or overnight, E-ZPass or mail. See the Congestion Relief Zone toll page.

How to check your base or TSP status

There is no public list of enrolled bases that we could find. Practical checks:

1. Ask in writing. Ask your base (FHV) or garage (taxi) whether it has a signed per-trip charge plan agreement with the MTA.
2. Look at passenger receipts. On a zone trip, the per-trip charge should appear. On taxi trips it is added by the meter.
3. Read the E-ZPass statement. The MTA's instructions for the state toll tax credit tell people to look for tolls labeled CBDTP in the Agency column of E-ZPass statements and toll bills (MTA documentation guide). An owner who sees CBDTP charges on workdays should ask why.
4. Contact the MTA. Registration: CRZtaxifhv-registration@mta.info (MTA taxi and FHV page). Questions: CRZtaxifhv-support@mta.info (IN24-10).

Existing TLC toll rules still apply

TLC says its existing toll rules apply to the congestion tolls and per-trip charges. The MTA schedule itself cites TLC rules 58-26(f) (taxis), 59A-23(b) (FHVs) and 59D-17(c) (high-volume) as the basis for passengers paying. For app drivers, 59D-17(c) says the company "must remit to the Driver the entirety of any toll paid by the Driver during a dispatched trip", with a $500 fine and restitution for tolls not repaid (chapter 59).

Mistakes that cost drivers money or points

Plain definitions: per-trip charge plan and technology system provider. For the owner-side state surcharge filing, see congestion surcharge filing for bases and owners. Black car drivers: black car hub. Personal-car discounts are separate: Low-Income Discount Plan, low-income discount questions. WAV questions: are WAVs exempt?. Overview: congestion pricing for TLC drivers and the tolls hub.