Two U.S. senators urge FTC to investigate SunPass vendor Conduent

As the Florida Department of Transportation continues to pressure SunPass contractor Conduent State and Local Solutions to straighten out its administration of the tolling system, some federal lawmakers have decided to step in.

A pair of U.S. Senators are urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the contractor providing electronic tolling solutions in multiple states for problems involving the company’s administration and maintenance of electronic tolling system.

On Monday, July 30, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., sent a letter to FTC Chairman Joseph Simons, requesting the agency take action against Florham Park, N.J.-based Conduent State and Local Solutions, for violating the Federal Trade Commission Act. The act prohibits unfair practices that causes substantial harm to consumers that cannot be reasonably avoided.

In the letter, the senators claim that Conduent has financially harmed the driving public with their contracts allowing it to administer and maintain electronic tolling systems with several state departments of transportation. Conduent is accused of billing consumers with wrong toll charges, late fee and penalties.

Motorists in California, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire and Texas have experienced problems with Conduent’s customer service and administration of toll systems, the letter states.

“Conduent’s pattern of mismanaging cashless toll systems is deeply troubling and warrants further scrutiny,” the senators wrote.  “If drivers are being hurt financially, the FTC should hold the company accountable and prevent it from doing further harm.”

Although the senators acknowledge that state DOTs are responsible for addressing harm to their citizens, the letter also recognizes violations by Conduent warrant the FTC’s involvement. Nelson and Peters note that the FTC has handled situations with third-parties in the past, including mobile telephone cramming with American eVoice and payment processing with Electronic Payment Systems of America, CardFlex Payment Solutions and Process America