Some Staten Island drivers say the city's new cashless tolls are causing them a headache — plus a whole lot of money. NY1's Lindsay Tuchman has the story.

Bakery owner Gennaro Treglia spends a lot of time driving.

"We service all of New Jersey, all of Manhattan, New York, so I'm in and out of the city, I'm in and out of New Jersey, I'm constantly, constantly using the tolls, every day," Treglia said.

But the Annadale resident recently got a call from a bill collector saying he failed to pay eight tolls and now owes fines totaling more than $800.

Treglia says the new cashless EZ Pass lanes  give you no visual indication if your EZ pass worked, or if you're low on funds.

"So what I think is happening is a little unjust," Treglia said. "The system kind of let me down a little because for me to make $100 a day that they're charging me for, you know how many Kaiser rolls I gotta sell in a day to make that, and I think it's ridiculous, and they don't offer any kind of help."

Staten Island community activist Mike Reilly decided to write a letter to state and borough officials about the issue, which other drivers are complaining about too.

He says it happened to his own brother.

"When they started cashless tolling he didn't realize there was an error with his debit card," Reilly said "he racked up $2,200 in fines not counting the tolls."

MTA officials say the use of an EZ Pass when you're low on funds is a violation — but fees can be avoided if you replenish your account within 10 days. After that, they will send two violation notices, which customers have 30 days each to pay, they also say you can sign up for mobile alerts to know when your account is running low.

Reilly however says that system needs re-evaluating.

"If you don't know how to do it and you don't know how to navigate the system people are going to have an issue where they owe money and it gets forwarded to collections," Reilly said.

The MTA also says customers can always dispute charges they think are unfair.