Rental cars are registered to the rental company, so an unpaid toll or a photo-captured traffic violation is initially billed to the company, which then identifies which specific rental agreement was active at that date and time and passes the charge to the renter — often weeks or even months after the trip has ended.
Beyond the toll or fine itself, rental companies typically add their own administrative fee for processing each violation, which can sometimes exceed the original toll or ticket amount — this fee is disclosed in the rental agreement, though it's easy to miss at pickup.
The best way to avoid this entirely is enrolling in the rental company's electronic toll pass program if you know you'll be driving toll roads, or planning routes that avoid tolls altogether if the add-on cost isn't worth it for your trip — either approach avoids the administrative fee layered on top of unpaid tolls.
