Maryland toll forgiveness usually comes through one of two channels run by the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA): a temporary Customer Assistance Plan that waives civil penalties when you pay the underlying video tolls, or an installment plan with reduced penalties for drivers who owe $300 or more. Neither is permanent, and both close off once your debt is referred out to collections or the Motor Vehicle Administration. If you have a valid defense to the citation itself, contesting it is a third route that can eliminate the penalty entirely.
Customer Assistance Plans That Waive Penalties
The MDTA has periodically offered Customer Assistance Plans that waive civil penalties in full when drivers pay their underlying video toll amounts. These programs are not standing policy. They open and close on the MDTA’s schedule, and when they run, they represent the cheapest way to clear old toll debt because only the base toll survives the waiver.
Past assistance periods also paused referrals to the Central Collection Unit and to the MVA, which meant drivers whose accounts were on the edge of registration consequences got a breathing window to resolve the balance without a hold following them. Whether any of that applies to you depends on what’s currently offered. Check driveezmd.com for the status of any active program before assuming penalties are waivable on request.
Outside of an announced assistance plan, the MDTA does not have a general “ask nicely” penalty waiver. If no program is running, your realistic options for reducing what you owe are the installment plan or contesting the citation.
The Installment Plan for Debts of $300 or More
If you owe $300 or more in unpaid video tolls and civil penalties, the MDTA offers an installment plan that includes reduced penalties on the outstanding debt. This is the standing option available between Customer Assistance Plan windows. The reduction isn’t a full waiver, but it can meaningfully lower the total balance.
One condition matters more than any other: the plan is only available while your debt is still with the MDTA. Once your account has been referred to the Central Collection Unit, Maryland’s state debt collection arm, you lose access. The CCU adds its own administrative costs on top of what you already owe, so applying before referral is where the money is saved.
To apply, email EZPassTollHelp@mdta.state.md.us with your full name, phone number, and the mailing number from your toll notice. The MDTA will send back a promissory note (the legal agreement), a list of the violations the plan covers, and a monthly payment schedule. You sign the note and make the first payment to activate the plan.
Why Timing Decides What Forgiveness Is Available
Every stage of Maryland’s toll violation process narrows your options and raises the price.
When you go through a toll without paying, MDTA mails a Notice of Toll Due to the registered owner. You have 30 days to pay the video toll with no penalty. That’s the cheapest exit, and no forgiveness program is needed because no penalty has attached yet.
If you miss those 30 days, MDTA issues a civil citation, which must be mailed within 60 days of the violation. The citation adds a penalty per unpaid transaction on top of the toll. You then have 30 days to pay or contest.
Ignoring the citation sends the account to the MVA. If you owe under $1,000 in unpaid tolls and penalties, your vehicle registration is flagged for non-renewal. At $1,000 or more, your registration can be suspended outright. Unresolved debt may also be referred to the CCU, which is the point at which the installment plan closes to you.
Forgiveness options exist at every stage, but they shrink. Apply for the installment plan before CCU referral. Watch for a Customer Assistance Plan announcement. And if the citation itself is wrong, contest it inside the 30-day window rather than wait.
Contesting the Citation to Wipe Out the Penalty
A successful contest eliminates the toll and penalty entirely, which is a fuller form of forgiveness than any waiver program offers. Contesting means requesting a hearing, typically in District Court, within 30 days of the citation. The information in the citation carries a presumption of accuracy, so you’ll need concrete evidence.
Maryland law places liability on the registered owner, but several defenses can eliminate that liability:
- You sold or transferred the vehicle before the toll was incurred. A bill of sale, completed title transfer, or MVA records showing the transfer date can prove it. This is the most common successful defense, because MDTA cameras read plates and ownership records sometimes lag actual transfers.
- The vehicle was stolen or used without permission. A police report filed before or around the time of the violation is the key evidence.
- Someone else was operating the vehicle under circumstances the statute recognizes, such as when it was in the possession of a repair shop or dealership.
- The system misread the plate or attributed the toll to the wrong vehicle. Dashcam footage, GPS data, or timestamped photos placing your vehicle elsewhere can support this.
The citation must contain the toll facility, the date and time of the transaction, and the vehicle’s license plate number. Errors in those details are also grounds for challenge. MDTA doesn’t have to prove who was driving, only that a vehicle registered to you went through the toll, so you carry the burden of showing an exception applies.
File the contest promptly. Missing the 30-day window doesn’t just mean you owe the citation; it starts the clock on MVA referral.
Disputing E-ZPass Account Charges Within One Year
Charges that post to an E-ZPass account follow a different track from citations. Maryland law requires the MDTA’s E-ZPass terms and conditions to let account holders dispute any charge or fee for using a Maryland toll facility for at least one year after the charge posts. That one-year window is a statutory floor; MDTA can offer more time but not less.
The common scenario is a transponder that failed to read, so a transaction posted at the video toll rate (1.5 times the base toll, with a $1 minimum and $15 maximum surcharge above the base) instead of your account’s discounted E-ZPass rate. If MDTA agrees, the transaction can be reclassified to the E-ZPass rate.
Review your transactions online or through MDTA customer service, then gather supporting records before you call: trip logs, GPS data from a navigation app, or receipts placing you elsewhere. Note that this one-year window applies to charges on your E-ZPass account. Toll violation citations follow the shorter notice-and-citation deadlines described above.
If You’ve Already Lost the First Round
Maryland’s Administrative Procedure Act provides further review. A driver aggrieved by a final decision in a contested case can request a hearing before an administrative law judge at the Office of Administrative Hearings, with rights to call witnesses, present evidence, cross-examine, and make arguments.
If the administrative law judge rules against you, you can file a petition for judicial review in the circuit court for the county where you live or have your principal place of business. Maryland Rule 7-203(a) generally requires the petition within 30 days of the decision being mailed. The circuit court reviews the record for substantial evidence and legal error; it is not a new trial, and you won’t be presenting fresh evidence at that stage.
None of these steps waive penalties on their own. They exist to correct a decision that was wrong on the record, so use them when you have a real evidentiary or legal argument, not as a delay tactic while penalties keep accruing.