State Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, voices his support for a cap on the amount rental car companies can charge to refuel a rental vehicle. Submitted Photo

Rental car companies could soon face a cap on the amount they can charge renters to refuel a rental vehicle.

S.3985, sponsored by Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, D-Nanuet, passed the state Senate unanimously. Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, crossed party lines to co-sponsor the legislation along with Sen. James Gaughran, D- Syosset, and Sen. Robert Jackson, D-New York City.

“I want to start off by thanking the sponsor for this bill,” Borrello said on the Senate floor. “We often try to limit what businesses can do, but really what we should be doing is the bare minimum to make sure they are not engaging in deceptive practices. I think this bill addresses that with the rental car fees. I spent more than 20 years on the road, more than 50% of my time traveling, and I can tell you in dealing with rental car companies there are, in my opinion, a number of price gouging and deceptive practices that go on. This is probably one of the most egregious.”

The legislation establishes a 25% cap above the regional average market value of gasoline on the prices rental companies can charge to refuel a vehicle once the vehicle is returned. The state Attorney General would be given the authority to investigate violations and impose penalties if rental car companies violate the law.

Similar legislation was also passed unanimously by the state Senate in June 2021, but the legislation did not make it to the floor of the state Assembly. Versions of the bill date back to 2011-12.

Borrello said rental car companies should be allowed to charge a fee for refueling, but that fee should be reasonable.

“I realize that, yes, if I make the mistake of showing up at the airport and haven’t refilled my tank with gas that I should pay a price for that, that there is a cost for that to them,” Borrello said. “But once you enter that airport it’s very difficult to go out, especially if you’re going to catch a flight and they know that. So they set these excessive fees in place. Also if you rent at a local location they don’t even often refill the tank. Often I was renting a car locally and they would have a quarter tank of gas or a half tank of gas even though they charged that previous renter the full rate plus the penalty, they gave it to me and said, ‘Well, just bring it back with the same amount of gas in it.’ That to me is deceptive practices and we should limit that. And that’s what this bill does and I proudly vote aye.”