THE INTRODUCTION of barrier-free tolling on the M50 will prove a disaster for Irish tourism, according to car rental companies.
Tourists who use the road after the toll booths are removed early on Saturday morning will face an administration fee of up to €2 in addition to the toll, under arrangements drawn up by some rental companies.
However, while some companies plan to bill customers for the toll plus an administrative charge after they use the road, others are advising customers to pay the tolls themselves even though they have grave doubts on whether foreign tourists understand or care about the new system. Unpaid tolls incur fines of up to €146.
Three-quarters of rental cars returned to Dublin airport are driven via the M50, and up to 2,000 cars are returned to the airport during peak season.
The rental companies yesterday became the latest group to express their frustration at their dealings with the NRA and to predict the new system will cause more problems than it solves.
Truck drivers have already threatened a collective non-payment of the tolls.
Individual car rental companies have devised their own, largely manual, systems to handle barrier-free tolling following the failure of talks with the NRA.
"We're coming up against a disaster for tourists coming into the country," said Pat Geoghegan of Europcar. "Some guy is going to fly in from the States, drive down to Kerry for a fortnight and come back to a big fine."
He said his company was not prepared to act as a toll collector for the State when it had not been provided with the information it required, so it would be advising customers to pay the tolls.
Colm Brady of Thrifty car rentals, which is also asking customers to pay the tolls themselves, criticised the NRA for its failure to take on board industry concerns.
"Whichever option we choose still leaves us with the biggest administration nightmare that the NRA couldn't care less about," said Robert Kenny of Hertz, which is planning to register its entire fleet with eFlow before tomorrow.
The company says most of its fleet is leased on a short-term basis from hundreds of dealers around the country.
The dealers are, therefore, the registered owners and any charge or fines would be communicated to them.
"By the time we know about the charges the fines will have escalated," said Mr Kenny. By registering the fleet, the company can limit the toll to €2.50 and avoid the threat of fines.
"Hertz then planned to apply each toll charge to each particular rental, plus a €2 administration fee to cover the cost of additional staff needed to carry out this work."
Asked this week about the use of barrier-free tolling by rental cars, the NRA said it had advised companies of the options.
"Our view is that video registering is a good solution for car rental operators and they can check the account balance online when the customer returns the vehicle and bill accordingly."
M50 tolls guide: see www.irishtimes.com
