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BMV Admits To Over-Charging For Licenses

Last updated on Wednesday, May 22, 2013

(INDIANAPOLIS) - In court documents filed this week, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles admits it may have “inadvertently” overcharged some Hoosiers for their driver’s licenses.

Troy Kehoe of WISH TV reports that Indianapolis attorney Irwin Levin, of Cohen & Malad LLP, filed a lawsuit in Marion County Superior Court in March claiming the BMV charged drivers too much for their licenses. The lawsuit claims all drivers under the age of 75 who obtained or renewed a license since 2007 were overcharged by as much as $7 per license.

The suit seeks more than $30 million in damages.

In the BMV's response to the class action complaint filed Tuesday, the agency admitted "that on certain occasions it may have inadvertently overcharged a number of Indiana citizens for operators' licenses." However, the complaint goes on to say that the agency is "without sufficient information at this time to admit or deny the allegations regarding a systematic overcharge," as alleged by the lawsuit.

"This case is simple," said Levin in a statement to 24-Hour News 8. "The BMV admits it can't charge more than the law allows, but it did. The BMV continues to illegally overcharge Hoosiers. They need to stop immediately and give ordinary citizens back the money they took."

Marion County Judge Heather Welch granted the lawsuit class-action status in early May . All Indiana drivers under age 75 who would have a claim against the BMV will be a part of the lawsuit, unless they specifically opt out.

A BMV spokesman declined to immediately comment on the agency's response to the lawsuit, citing a policy on pending litigation. Messages left for the Indiana Attorney General seeking comment on the response were not immediately returned.

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