State Guide
Navigating violations with Peach Pass (State Road and Tollway Authority) can be confusing. Follow this guide to fight your charge.
Generate a Georgia Dispute LetterGeorgia tolls only its Express Lanes, and its statute contains a protection most drivers never discover: the administrative fee is capped at $25 in total per violation no matter how many notices arrive. It also has a hard cliff, because by the time a case reaches a formal hearing, theft of the vehicle is the only defence the law allows.
The governing statute is O.C.G.A. section 32-10-64, and the operative provision for drivers is subsection (c)(1). It makes the registered owner liable for the proper toll and an administrative fee of up to $25 per violation to recover the cost of collection.
The most valuable sentence in Georgia toll law is the next one. The statute says the administrative fee may increase with each notice, provided that such fee shall not exceed a cumulative total of $25 per violation. That is a hard cap. If you are holding a stack of escalating notices for a single violation, the fees on that violation cannot lawfully exceed $25 in total, however many letters arrived.
The second layer is a civil monetary penalty of not more than $70 per violation, but it only applies after the Office of State Administrative Hearings determines that there were multiple failures to pay. So the realistic worst case for a single violation is the toll plus $25 plus $70.
Understand the shape of the process, because the winnable stage comes first. You have 90 days to dispute a violation with SRTA, and SRTA must respond in writing within 14 business days. This informal dispute is where an ordinary grievance can actually be heard.
By the time a matter reaches the Office of State Administrative Hearings, the door has largely closed. The statute limits the scope of any hearing to whether the registered owner failed to pay after notice and within the time designated, and it states that the only affirmative defence that may be presented is theft of the vehicle, evidenced by a police report showing the vehicle was reported stolen before the alleged violation. Not knowing about the toll, a transponder that failed to read, and not having been the driver are all outside what the hearing may consider.
Registration suspension is automatic and unusually fast. The statute says that on failure to pay within 30 days of the date of notice of the OSAH determination, the motor vehicle registration shall be immediately suspended by operation of law. No separate action by the Department of Revenue is needed. The suspension continues until the toll, administrative fee and civil penalty are paid. SRTA may also collect by setoff against your Georgia tax refund.
For company and fleet vehicles there is a specific rule. Under subsection (c)(3), where a vehicle is registered to an entity rather than a person, the registered owner is treated as the individual who was driving, but only if the entity supplies enough information to identify and notify that driver within 60 days of notice from the authority. Miss the 60 days and liability stays with the company.
Rental cars work differently in Georgia and the outcome surprises people. Peach Pass states that when you drive a rental through an Express Lane the toll is always charged to the rental company's transponder first, even if you added the rental car to your own Peach Pass account, because the rental company's device is the primary one associated with the vehicle. It also states plainly that Peach Pass cannot override, stop or redirect tolls billed through a rental company's system. The dispute has to go to the rental company.
On scams, SRTA states that it and Peach Pass will never verify customers' personal information or toll trips, nor ask for personal or account information by email or text message. The FBI's Atlanta field office reported in March 2025 that complaints about Peach Pass smishing texts had jumped dramatically, with more complaints in a single month than in the previous fourteen combined. The only official domains are peachpass.com, mypeachpass.com and srta.ga.gov. Check for the exact spelling with no hyphen.
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Start AI Letter Generator →Once your dispute is submitted, the toll authority reviews your evidence and the original toll image before responding — most decisions in Georgia arrive within 30 to 90 days. Sending your letter by certified mail, or keeping the confirmation number from an online submission, gives you proof that you filed on time if you ever need to escalate.
If your dispute is approved, the charge is dismissed or reduced and any related late fees are typically removed. If it's denied, you usually still have the right to request a hearing or pay the reduced base toll. Either way, responding in writing before the deadline protects you from registration holds and collection activity, which are far harder to undo later.
Twenty-five dollars, total. O.C.G.A. section 32-10-64(c)(1) says the administrative fee may increase with each notice, provided that such fee shall not exceed a cumulative total of $25 per violation. That is a hard statutory cap. A separate civil monetary penalty of up to $70 per violation can be added, but only after the Office of State Administrative Hearings determines there were multiple failures to pay.
Ninety days, and SRTA must respond to you in writing within 14 business days. Use that window, because it matters more in Georgia than almost anywhere else: once a matter reaches the Office of State Administrative Hearings, the statute limits the hearing to whether you failed to pay after notice, and the only affirmative defence allowed is theft of the vehicle with a police report predating the violation.
Yes, and it happens automatically. The statute says that on failure to pay within 30 days of the date of notice of the OSAH determination, the vehicle registration shall be immediately suspended by operation of law, with no separate action needed by the Department of Revenue. It stays suspended until the toll, administrative fee and civil penalty are all paid. SRTA may also collect the debt by setoff against your Georgia tax refund.
The rental company is billed first, and Peach Pass cannot change that. Peach Pass states that the toll is always charged to the rental company's transponder, even if you added the rental car to your own Peach Pass account, because the rental company's device is the primary one associated with the vehicle. It also states that Peach Pass cannot override, stop or redirect those tolls. Any dispute belongs with the rental company under your rental agreement.
Almost certainly not. SRTA states that it and Peach Pass will never verify customers' personal information or toll trips, nor ask for personal or account information by email or text message. The FBI's Atlanta office reported a dramatic spike in Peach Pass smishing complaints in March 2025. Check the domain carefully: the only official sites are peachpass.com, mypeachpass.com and srta.ga.gov, with no hyphen.
Only the Express Lanes. There are four: the I-85 Express Lanes, the I-85 Extension, the I-75 South Metro Express Lanes, and the Northwest Corridor along I-75 and I-575. All are dynamically priced with a minimum of 10 cents per mile. The SR 400 Express Lanes are still under construction and are not yet tolled, so a notice claiming an SR 400 toll is worth questioning.
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