Lawyer slams toll road operators for revenue raising gone mad

A VICTORIAN legal expert has accused the state’s toll road system of willingly burdening users with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt that they don’t have a hope of repaying.

Victoria University law professor Denis Nelthorpe has slammed the system as unfair to people who default on toll payments – either knowingly or unknowingly – and then rack up huge financial penalties as a result.

Nelthorpe, who also works as a community lawyer, has for years campaigned against what he claims is unjust debt collection in Victoria, and says a focus on revenue raising is causing unnecessary stress to both families and the court system.

“Imagine if, for your mobile phone bill, they didn’t sue you for non-payment at the end of a three-month period, they sued you for every single call; put stamp duty, service fees, and court fees on every single call,” he told Wheels.

“It means that an amount of $2000 to $3000 [of debt] turns into $100,000.

“The system is so heavily based on revenue raising that common sense and proportionality have gone out the door.”

Punishments handed out for toll debt could be worse than if you were convicted of a violent crime, Nelthorpe said.

“To put this in context, if you were charged with a serious assault as a first-time offender, you would get a far lighter penalty than someone who has three months’ unpaid tolls,” he said.

“The fines are completely out of kilter in regards to the severity of the situation.”

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As the system stands, if a driver continues to use a toll road having already been issued an unpaid invoice reminder, they are issued with an infringement notice from Victoria Police. The CityLink website says “this will commence with a charge of $155.46 for each day of travel listed on the original toll invoice”.

Nelthorpe said not only is the system frustrating to use, but it also leaves toll road users in the dark about how much is owed once all debts are added up – meaning users have to wind through a system “where you may not get a chance to talk to anyone until [the debt] has gone from $8 to $3000”.

He recommended following systems used in other states. “You may be sued for not paying 100 days of road tolls, you may even be prosecuted, but it will be done in a way that is proportional to the problem you are causing.”

One of the issues the system has to deal with is what he says are “third-party actions” – drivers racking up fines in cars they do not own and have no intention of paying for: think of a jilted partner racking up large toll debt on an account that isn’t theirs.

“All these problems arise because the system is too heavily based on revenue raising, and not sufficiently responsive to problems that arise out of third-party actions or something like that,” he said.

The community lawyer said both the state government and toll operators shared blame over this.

“The government is tacking on administrative fees on every single trip, and it is producing disproportionate outcomes that are unworkable for everyone.

“The court routinely discharges two thirds of the fine in one go,” he said.

Nelthorpe said no one wanted to take responsibility for the issue.

“Common sense has gone out the window,” he said. “And as the problem has become more obvious, both the government and toll operators have just stuck their head in the ground and said it’s not their problem.”

Transurban and CityLink were contacted for comment. Neither had responded by the time of publication.