SunPass -- which is still down -- will waive penalties, fees from ongoing payment system outage

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — SunPass will waive its late fees and penalties for accounts that have become delinquent during a longer-than-expected outage for its payment system.

The prepaid toll system is still down after what was supposed to be a week of scheduled maintenance starting June 5. At the end of the week, the system did not work.

Read: SunPass customers' bills not up-to-date despite website upgrade

Since then, customers have not been able to add money to their accounts. Channel 9’s Racquel Asa reported the account problems depend on which toll roads drivers use.

SunPass said it will publicly announce when the fees will resume as soon as the website is working again.

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The issue has also been causing problems for E-Pass, which has not been able to post millions of transactions to SunPass accounts. As a result, drivers will likely have unposted tolls on their accounts regardless of whether they use SunPass or E-Pass.

Read: SunPass maintenance issues now causing problems for E-Pass customers

An E-Pass spokesperson told Channel 9 that SunPass hasn’t posted tolls from SR-538, Florida’ Turnpike, SR-417 in Seminole County, and SR-429 near Walt Disney World since June 1.

SunPass has also opened up a walk-in center at the West Oaks Mall to handle issues in person to help alleviate some of the volume on the website, app and at the call center.

E-Pass customers who have questions about their account can call 1-800-353-7277 or visit the E-Pass Walk-in location at 762 S. Goldenrod Rd, Orlando, FL 32822.

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Full statement from FDOT (released Thursday, June 21):

Today, the Florida Department of Transportation announced that the Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) will not be collecting late fees or penalties as it continues the conversion to its new SunPass Combined Customer Service Center (CCSC).  

Mike Dew, Secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation said, “We are committed to holding our vendor accountable and ensuring that our new system ultimately provides a premier customer service experience. I share the frustrations with our customers over the rollout of CCSC and find it unacceptable. Today, we are announcing that we will not be imposing late fees or penalties on SunPass accounts until the system is providing the benefits and ease of access that our customers deserve and expect.” 

The SunPass system has accumulated toll charges for customer accounts since the system maintenance period began on June 1. In the best interest of the customer, the posting of toll charges was withheld until the website and call center systems were operating more efficiently.  

Is it important to note that the billing delay currently being experienced by SunPass will have no impact on the cost of tolls or our customers’ ability to travel on the system.   

SunPass customers will continue to be charged tolls, however, and once the system has been thoroughly tested, FTE will announce a timeline for the resumption of fees or penalties for delinquent accounts.  

SunPass will soon begin posting toll transactions. In order to better serve the customer and avoid unintended consequences, individual account charges will be posted gradually over a number of weeks.

Cox Media Group