Autoroute tolls are 58% higher than they should be, according to a lawyer who is encouraging drivers to sign up to a class action lawsuit against the companies that set them.
Maître Christophe Lèguevaques, who is based in Paris and Toulouse, has so far enrolled over 850 people, each prepared to pay €35 to commence proceedings.
Maître Lèguevaques claims it should enable them to recover half the toll charges they have paid over the past five years.
The action stems from the historic financing structure of the country’s motorway network.
France’s autoroutes were constructed through public-private partnerships, whereby private companies built and operated them and were granted toll concessions to recoup their investment, typically over 30 years.
When the repayment period ended, however, the state did not assume control of the autoroutes. Rather, they remained with the companies under a complex arrangement introduced by the state in 2006, governing how toll fees are set.
Part of this involved automatic indexation linked to inflation, and part concerned payment for maintenance and investment in the network.
“There have been reports from a number of bodies, including the Senate, the Cour des Comptes and the Inspection générale des finances, which say there is a worrying difference between the service provided and the cost charged,” Maître Lèguevaques told The Connexion.
“Our calculations show that, on average, there is a difference of 58%, with autoroute companies sometimes issuing dividends of 25% of profits.”
Maître Lèguevaques said the main challenge for people looking into the matter was the lack of transparency.
“It seems that the state is sometimes given figures for investments and maintenance work which has not yet taken place for one reason or another,” he said.
Using the example of a Marseille–Toulouse autoroute journey, he said tolls were €35 but the estimated cost of maintenance and investment was only €14. Similarly, a Paris–Lyon journey cost €36, while the estimated cost was €15.
This provides proof of payment through receipts issued by badge companies. Foreign motorists with badges, including drivers from the UK, are eligible to claim.
“Trying to sort through hundreds of individual toll booth tickets would just not be practical,” said Maître Lèguevaques.
“People with badges – and there are 12 million individuals and two million companies with them in France – are usually the ones who use autoroutes the most.
“If we win, I expect they will be able to claim hundreds, if not thousands, of euros back.”
The lawsuit will first involve challenging the basis for autoroute funding in the Conseil d'Etat, both in terms of the indexation mechanism and the proportion of operating and investment costs.
If the case is successful, those who have signed up to the action will be able to recover costs incurred over the past five years, the legal time limit for overcharging claims.
Maître Lèguevaques expects a ruling from the Conseil d'Etat within six months to two years.
This will be followed by a further two to five years for individual claims to be processed by regional tribunaux administratifs. Sign up here.
