The toll for driving on the Irish M50 motorway is being applied to rental bookings by some operators, who argue that the increase in fees for hire car customers has been brought about by losses generated from unpaid charges. In some instances, the standard £3 pound each way charge is being added to the overall bill along with an additional fee of up to 64 percent.

The rate hike revelation came after a Europcar customer, who is based in the UK, hired a vehicle for his trip home. He was charged with a extra fee of €1.93 each for each leg of his journey along the prime thoroughfare in addition to the usual £3 cost.

According to Gerry McDermott, Europcar’s commercial manager, the rental operator applied the charge due to their handling of the transaction as is standard policy with any third-party toll fees. The additional cost covers processing by the group and includes and administration fee, something which Europcar extends across several tollways other than just the M50.

Past history indicates that many overseas hire car drivers are unaware of the process for toll payment on foreign roads, and that given many depart the country before the payment deadline has been reached that significant amounts are being lost. McDermott claims that his company is in fact taking the hassle out of the experience so customers can get on with their holiday.

McDermott refuted suggestions that the charge was overly high, saying that the fee not only covered processing costs but also VAT and actual manpower involved in the administration.