What happens to unpaid Highway 6 tolls after I leave Israel?

They do not disappear when you fly home, although who ends up chasing the money depends on whose name the car is registered in. Section 6 of the Toll Road (Cross-Israel Highway) Law 5755-1995 makes the vehicle's registered owner liable for the toll, and because Highway 6 has no toll booths the charge is billed after the trip from camera or transponder records. For a rental car the invoice goes to the rental company, which normally charges the card you left with it and adds its own handling fee, sometimes tens of shekels per invoice. For a car registered to you in Israel and driven by a relative while you live abroad, unpaid invoices collect late-payment charges and can end in enforcement against the vehicle itself.

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Detailed Answer

The Law and the Toll Road (Cross-Israel Highway) (Enforcement of Payments) Regulations give the road's operator stronger collection tools than an ordinary creditor has. An invoice that is not paid by the date printed on it attracts a late-payment charge, set in tiers according to how many invoices on the account remain unpaid, and late interest on top. The enforcement regulations allow a vehicle with outstanding tolls to be stopped at a toll exit, impounded and towed, at fees of NIS 191 for impoundment and NIS 142 for towing, with storage charged once the first 12 hours have passed. The operator also sends a warning by registered post at least 90 days before the vehicle licence falls due for renewal, and the outstanding debt then gets in the way of that renewal. Disputed trips are raised first with Highway 6 customer service and then with its appeals committee. None of this depends on who was actually driving, because the Law starts from the registered owner.

Tourists usually meet the problem as an unexpected line on a credit card statement some weeks after the trip. The rental agreement will almost always allow the company to pass on tolls and its fees, so the useful steps are practical ones. Ask for a copy of the Highway 6 invoice showing dates and times, check that the trips match your itinerary, and challenge a handling fee charged per trip where the contract only allows one per invoice. If you rent in Israel regularly, Highway 6 offers a subscription with no fixed fee that can be linked to a rental car for the rental period and lowers the price of each trip, provided you remove the car from the account when you hand it back. Israelis living abroad face a different risk. A car left registered in your name and used by family keeps generating invoices at a postal address you no longer check, the charges grow, and the problem tends to surface only when the relative tries to renew the vehicle licence. Larger debts can be passed on for collection in much the same way as the fines described in our answer on unpaid Israeli traffic and parking fines.

In Practice: Under Section 6 of the Toll Road (Cross-Israel Highway) Law 5755-1995 the registered owner pays, and unpaid invoices carry tiered late-payment charges and interest. The enforcement regulations allow impoundment at a toll exit for NIS 191 plus NIS 142 for towing, and the operator's registered warning must go out at least 90 days before the vehicle licence renewal handled by the Licensing Authority at the Ministry of Transport.

When to Consult a Lawyer

• A rental company has charged your card far more in tolls and fees than the trips you made, and will not produce the underlying Highway 6 invoices.
• A car registered in your name in Israel has built up unpaid toll debts while you live abroad, and the vehicle licence cannot be renewed until they are dealt with.
• The debt has been passed to collection or an enforcement file has been opened, since that can escalate into measures that affect you the next time you visit Israel.

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Speak With an Israeli Attorney

An Israeli lawyer can check the toll invoices against the Law, dispute unjustified charges and handling fees, and clear a registered car's toll debt so the vehicle licence can be renewed.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.