TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A statement was issued Thursday by Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Dew regarding SunPass customers who have incurred overdraft expenses.
The statement comes following Gov. Rick Scott's directive that SunPass customers "be made whole."
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Officials with the Florida Department of Transportation said that while the department is not penalizing users "for Conduent's backlog," some users who have set up their bill payment processes for automatic withdrawal are incurring overdraft expenses from their personal banks or lending institutions.
"This isn't fair to SunPass users who set up automatic withdrawal to pay their bills," Dew said. "To make these customers whole, we are beginning the process of standing up a new system where we can work with impacted users to make them whole, and then forward the bill straight to Conduent. We don't want customers to be unfairly punished for trying to do the right thing."
Florida Turnpike Executive Director Paul Wai said that SunPass will provide detailed information in the coming days for customers on the process for resolving any potential issues with their banking or credit card accounts.
"Until all transactions have been fully processed, customers who are concerned about overdrafts from their personal banks or lending institutions should consider changing their automatic withdrawal settings," Wai said.
Officials said FDOT will continue to hold the vendor fully accountable for the delays that it has caused and will be enforcing all penalty clauses of the contract to the maximum extent possible.
FDOT continues to withhold payments to Conduent for the contract related to the SunPass Centralized Customer Service System, according to the department.
Officials said SunPass customers who are using the Easy Pay feature to automatically add funds to their account may want to consider changing their replenishment amount to avoid having their bank or credit cards charged multiple times over a short period.
FDOT officials said late fees and penalties will not be imposed until the system is "providing the benefits and ease of access that SunPass customers deserve and expect."
Customers with questions about their account may reach a SunPass representative at 888-TOLL-FLA, or 888-865-5352. Officials said customers can also log on to SunPass.com or download the SunPass mobile application.
The updates to the CCSS system are not affecting the use of any SunPass toll facilities in Florida, officials said.