The North Texas Tollway Association is conducting an internal review of its fees and penalties after a man complains about receiving a $11,000 bill for unpaid tolls.
Robb O'Brien said for more than two years he had no idea his daughter was using the tollway in his vehicle and not paying.
"She accumulated about, I'm embarrassed to say this, over $600 in tolls," he said.
O'Brien said when he received a bill for $11,000 he tried to negotiate a lower amount for the fees and penalties.
"We owed the tolls, I had no problem paying them," he said. "I don't know any loan sharks, but I'm pretty sure I could get better rates from a loan shark."
The NTTA said it has been sending O'Brien invoices for the unpaid tolls, but O'Brien said he didn't know money was owed until recently.
"There has been a breakdown in communication and I can't necessarily say it was the fault of the NTTA," spokeswoman Sherita Coffelt said.
The NTTA agreed to waive nearly all the penalties after receiving a call from NBC 5 reporter Grant Stinchfield -- citing the fact that O'Brien is already a TollTag customer.
"It felt like government run amuck, they simply charge the fees they want to charge because they know they can, and that's wrong," O'Brien said.
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Coffelt acknowledged that the NTTA has gotten tougher on collecting fines.
"We're still flexible, just not as flexible as we used to be," she said.
She said after receiving complaints, an internal review of the fees and penalties will be presented to the NTTA board in mid-December.
"Customers, elected officials, (and) our board members want to make sure that the fines we are charging are fair and they are being administered properly," she said.
