Renting a TLC Vehicle? How Tolls Get Billed to You

In short

When you rent or lease a for-hire vehicle from a fleet, two separate toll questions come up. Who pays the toll on a trip: the passenger, through the fare. On Uber and Lyft trips the company must pay you back any toll you paid. Who settles up between you and the fleet: that depends on whose E-ZPass is in the car. With your own tag, the toll money is yours. With the fleet's tag, toll money belongs to the fleet, and it can hold a replenishment deposit of up to $10 per 12-hour shift, $100 max, refunded within 30 days after the lease. Toll bills by mail go to the registered owner, the fleet, which then looks to your lease.

This page is about FHV rentals and leases, under TLC chapter 59A. Taxi leases follow chapter 58, with similar E-ZPass rules plus a lease cap. See E-ZPass replenishment accounts.

The FHV owner rules apply to the fleet

A fleet that rents out TLC-licensed FHVs is the "For-Hire Vehicle Owner" in TLC's rules. Under 59A-24 it must:

• keep a current E-ZPass New York account with MTA Bridges and Tunnels (59A-24(a));
• either put an MTA B&T tag, "attached as required," in each vehicle, or let the driver use a personal tag (59A-24(b)(1));
• have at least one MTA tag for each FHV license, and keep a sufficient balance (59A-24(b)(2)-(3)).

Breaking these carries a $100 fine and suspension until compliance.

If you use your own tag

"If a Driver uses their own EZ-Pass, the Driver keeps the toll money paid by the passenger, or is reimbursed the amount of the toll(s) if the passenger pays by credit or debit card" (59A-24(c)(2)). Put the rented car's plate on your E-ZPass account for the rental period. When you return the car, remove the plate. Otherwise the next renter's tolls could be matched to your account by plate.

If you use the fleet's tag

Toll money "accrue[s] to the For-Hire Vehicle Owner." Cash tolls are forwarded at the end of the shift or lease. Card tolls stay with the owner (59A-24(d)(1)). The fleet may require a replenishment account: at most $10 per 12-hour shift in the lease period, up to $100. It can use it only for tolls its account paid for your vehicle that you haven't repaid, and must return the rest within 30 days after the lease ends (59A-24(d)(2)). The fine for breaking that is $250 plus restitution.

Example: a weekly rental that lets you use the car around the clock covers fourteen 12-hour periods. Fourteen times $10 is $140, so the $100 cap applies. A rental for five daytime shifts allows up to $50. If the fleet asks for more than that as an "E-ZPass deposit," ask which rule allows it.

App trips: the company pays tolls back

If you use the rented car for app work, TLC Rule 59D-17(c) says a high-volume service "must remit to the Driver the entirety of any toll paid by the Driver during a dispatched trip." The penalty is $500 and restitution. Rule 59D-18(a) bars dispatching a vehicle not in the E-ZPass program. So on a dispatched trip, the toll should come back to you from the app. Then where it goes next depends on whose tag paid it. If you used your own tag, the toll was paid from your account, so the refund is yours. If the fleet's tag paid, 59A-24(d)(1) says toll money paid by passengers accrues to the owner, and the rule does not separately mention app refunds. Agree in writing with the fleet how app-repaid tolls are settled. See who pays tolls on Uber and Lyft trips.

Toll bills go to the fleet first

Tolls by Mail bills are mailed to the registered owner at the DMV address (Thruway). For a rented TLC car, that's the fleet. A bill usually means the fleet's tag wasn't read or wasn't linked, or the account ran out. Mail rates are higher: $12.03 instead of $7.46 for a car at the major MTA crossings (MTA rates effective January 4, 2026). Ask to see the bill itself before any amount is taken from you. Compare it with your trip log. See Tolls by Mail for TLC vehicles.

About "admin fees" on toll bills

Some rental agreements add a fee for handling toll bills. We have not verified what amounts fleets charge, and TLC's FHV rules shown here don't list such a fee. For taxi leases, Rule 58-21(c)(5)(iii) allows only "the discount toll amount for use of the Owner's EZ-Pass" above the lease cap. If an FHV rental adds a toll fee you didn't agree to, ask what rule or contract term allows it. You can also complain to TLC through 311. See can a base charge fees not in my agreement?

What to ask before you sign

Keep your own trip log

The fleet's statement shows crossings by tag and time. Your trip records show which crossings were on paid trips. Keep both:

Personal cars, borrowed cars and resident discounts

MTA's Temporary Travel Account (plate plus card, short term) is "ideal if you are renting or borrowing a car" (MTA). That's for a personal rental. A TLC vehicle must carry an E-ZPass tag and use it at MTA crossings (80-15(d)). Also, MTA's Staten Island and Rockaway resident discounts exclude "vehicles used for commercial purposes," and the vehicle must be registered to a resident address (MTA). A car registered to a fleet at a non-resident address won't meet the address test, and whether a TLC car counts as commercial is not stated, so ask E-ZPass (800-333-8655). See Staten Island resident discount in a TLC car.

Related

• What renting a TLC car really costs
• Buying or leasing a TLC vehicle
• Lease vs buy calculator
• Can I rent TLC plates for my own car?
• Can I use my own E-ZPass in a leased car?
• Rule 59A-11(b)(1): FHV driven by an unlicensed driver
• Tolls topic hub