Apparently drivers who choose to rent cars and use the M50 toll are being charged, in some cases, up to 64 per cent more for their rental than standard users. Hertz has come out and stated that they are one of the few companies that does not charge travelers extra for using the M50.

Operators of rental car firms are claiming that they need to charge an administration free per journey to recoup the costs of processing and paying the charge. One resident in the UK, Michael Smyth, complained about this after being charged an extra €1.93 per journey on top of his regular €3 toll after renting a car from Europcar while on a visit home.

The commercial manager of Europcar, Gerry McDermott, said that, in all cases where they process charges on behalf of a third party, they charge an administration fee to cover their own costs of paying the charge. Thus, it is no different from the M50 tolls. He went on to say that the vast majority of their customers are from overseas, and this process simplifies it for the customer, who does not have to find a place to pay the toll directly or make payments online within the deadline provided.

Paul Redmon from the Car Rental Council of Ireland said that all car rental companies have accounts with betEire Flow. Cars are registered on and off the fleet every single day. Some companies tried a system of allowing customers to pay their own tolls, but the level of default was such that they were being charged for all the unpaid tolls. The fee is now designed to cover this cost.

Of course, not all rental firms operate on such a system. A spokesperson for Hertz, which does not apply an additional charge for using the M50 toll, said that they only ask their consumers to pay for the tolls that they use. Hertz currently does not have any plans to introduce any additional charges.