By Sarah Mupo -- March 2, 2010
Photo by AP
Gov. Deval Patrick announced today that he will rescind a new fee imposed by the state Registry of Motor Vehicles that charged customers who opted to interact with a real person instead of mail, online or through an automated telephone system.
He will also refund those who have already paid the $5 fee.
The fee was mostly levied on people who went to a branch to take care of a routine transaction or chose to speak with a Registry employee over the telephone.
Patrick said that the RMV will drop the fee as soon as possible.
"We're certainly not trying to jam people up," Patrick said. "We're just dealing with the other thing that people say and are concerned about, which are long wait times at the Registry."
Patrick's action comes a day after the Boston Herald reported the existence of the fee, quietly enacted by the governor's administration.
"I appreciate what the registrar and secretary are trying to do, but we're going to have to look for another way to do this because the push back has been actually quite understandable," Patrick said. "We want to make the government as responsive as possible but I think this is one we need to think about it in a different way."
Legislative leaders have criticized the fee as punitive and said it could hurt poor or elderly customers who lack technological skill or access to the Internet.
"The governor heard the outcry obviously from both parties in Legislature and did the right thing," state Sen. Steven A. Baddour (D-Methuen), chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said. "The writing was on the wall. If he did not do what he did today we were going to do it for him."
Some have also said that is part of a Patrick administration model of getting more money from state residents who have already paid increased taxes on sales, liquor and other Registry services.
