'We shouldn’t be responsible for that': Owasso non-profit PlatePay dispute

A local driver is racking up a turnpike bill and the invoices are heading straight to an Owasso non-profit. The problem, the organization says, is that they don’t own the car and shouldn’t have to pay.

“We’re serving a lot of people,” said Randy Cowling.

It’s a non-stop operation at Owasso Community Resources as hundreds of families get the food they need to survive. Volunteers pack up cars then send families on their way each and every day. Randy Cowling heads the non-profit.

“I just have a heart for people and want to make sure that we can take care of our neighbors,” said Cowling.

For the last decade he’s done this work, but there’s a new issue that’s causing concern.

“I thought it was a mistake,” said Cowling.

The organization has two vehicles. The first is a van that picks up food from the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma about once a month. The second is a truck that’s only used to take our recycling. Cowling says neither of those vehicles spend any time on the Gilcrease Expressway near 41 ^st street south. Invoices from the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority sent to the non-profit say they owe money for PlatePay.

“Closer examination of the invoice, we discovered that the license plate that the PlatePay camera caught was not one of our vehicles,” said Cowling. “It even included the VIN number in this invoice which was not one of our vehicles.”

The bills first showed up in the spring. He says while the total is only $85, for this non-profit every penny counts.

“That’s $85 that would provide 4-5 sacks of canned goods that we distribute to families every day,” said Cowling.

2News reached out to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority who says the car that PlatePay picked up, was registered to the organization in 2019. Cowling says they sold it years ago.

In a statement, OTA said:

“We have reconfirmed with Service Oklahoma today that the vehicle that owes tolls is registered to Mr. Cowling’s business. This is where the issue lies. PlatePay works by reading license plates of those traveling turnpikes. License plates that are not associated with a PIKEPASS account or an interoperable account with one of our partner states (Kansas, Texas, parts of Florida and Colorado) are sent a PlatePay invoice to the registered owner of the vehicle. OTA receives registered vehicle owner information from Service Oklahoma, as allowed in state statute for the Authority’s governmental purpose of charging tolls. Ultimately, to resolve this, it’s our understanding that he will need to fill out a form with Service Oklahoma to clear this up and ensure that he no longer receives bills associated with this license plate and vehicle. In the meantime, OTA has cleared the tolls and fees related to this vehicle from Mr. Cowling’s account. This also should provide time for him to resolve this with Service Oklahoma.”

OTA says they handle about 17 million transactions a month and only about 10 percent of those are invoiced through PlatePay. They say the percentage of problems with reading plates, etc., is even smaller.

If you have a PlatePay invoice concern, you can call the Customer Service division at 1-800-PIKEPASS (1-800-745-3727) or email platepayhelp@pikepass.com .

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