9 AUGUST 2016

Roads and Maritime Services recently announced changes to the e-toll business.

Changes include raising the automatic top-up amount from $20 to $40, passing on credit card costs and encouraging customers to receive account statements via email.

The expansion of Sydney’s road network means customers may require increased funds to cover tolled trips.

For people who don’t use toll roads often, there is a casual payment option.

Increasing the minimum top up to $40 from September 1 aims to help customers avoid toll notices and processing fees for having insufficient funds in accounts.

While around 83 per cent of the 1.4 million E-Toll customers opt for email correspondence, those who receive quarterly statements in the mail will be required to pay for the service.

Pensioners will be exempt from postal costs. Pensioners should provide identification at a registry or Service NSW centre as soon as possible to ensure costs are not passed on.

Who is an eligible pensioner?

An eligible pensioner is anyone who holds one of the following:

• Current Pensioner Concession Card (PCC), issued by the Department of Human Services (DHS)-Centrelink or Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA), showing a NSW address.
• DHS-Centrelink Confirmation of Concession Card Entitlement form providing the PCC which is indicated on the form is stamped by DHS-Centrelink. These forms are issued while the pensioner is awaiting their new PCC (photocopies of forms are not acceptable).
• Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Gold Card endorsed 'TPI' (Totally & Permanently Incapacitated).
• Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Gold Card endorsed 'EDA' Extreme Disablement Adjustment.
• A letter or statement/determination from the Department of Veterans' Affairs stating that the person receives a disability pension of 70 percent or higher or an Intermediate or Extreme Disablement Adjustment Pension, or who has been assessed under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 at 50 or more impairment points.
• DVA Gold Card endorsed 'War Widow'.
• DVA Gold Card endorsed 'War Widower'.

Most agencies, including Fair Trading, Births, Deaths and Marriages and Environment and Heritage, have been charging merchant fees for a while now, since a Treasury mandate was made in 2013.

Credit card providers charge businesses, including government, merchant fees whenever they provide a payment service.

Customers can avoid merchant fees by switching to direct debit for automated top ups of their account or by using EFTPOS or cash if they are completing the transaction in store.