Autostrada Pedemontana Lombarda unpaid toll

There are no toll booths on the pedemontana. They just take a photo of all car plates, then you are supposed to go online, enter your license plate, then you can see how much the toll was and pay by credit card. Chicago has a similar toll highway system. The deadline to pay is 15 days after the day you use the toll road and the toll generally costs just a few euros (I think the max distance is about 3€)
If you don’t pay within the 15 days, they send a bill to the owner of the vehicle (with a penalty for late payment.. I’m not sure if the car company pays and charge your credit card, or if, more likely, they send your name to the toll company and they then try to collect using an international collection agency.
It works like a traffic fine. If an international collection agency contacts you in the US and you don’t pay, those debts are not enforceable in US courts and cannot be reported to the Credit Bureaus to affect your credit. So it’s up to you. Since the toll, if paid on time, would have been around 3€, see how much the collection agency wants extra.

Thank you! This is very helpful. I guess we'll see what the final amount is and respond accordingly. It's good to know that the original fee would have been just a few Euros. In the end, if they don't make this some crazy amount, I'd just be fine paying it and being done with it.

I'm in the same boat, almost to the day! Both for travel to Como and for receiving the notice from Avis. Let me know how it turns out because Avis happened to charge a closed credit card their "convenience fees" for forwarding the traffic violation. I also didn't see any toll roads; is it near the airport?

It is called the Free Flow Autostrada Pedemontana Lombarda. And free flow it is - no stopping to get a ticket, no stopping to pay. Just register on line, look up your car and give them the money. For locals it works like a dream.

There are big signs as you enter the tolled part of the roads. Use the website to see a map of the tolled parts.

The signs - like billboard size, with greenish blue writing - also say that you have a limited time to pay.

It is common practice for a rental company which had a contract with you to charge the card. If you have closed the card they still have the right - you agreed in the contract. And charge it they will, and you are still liable to pay it.

The web page in English is at https://apl.pedemontana.com/paga-il-pedaggio click the Union Jack for English.

Described by them:

Free Flow Autostrada Pedemontana Lombarda is the first Italian
motorway, and one of the first in Europe, to allow you to drive
without stopping at the toll booth, thanks to the new tolling system
Free Flow.

The Free Flow system does not require toll booths. You can travel
without ever finding barriers and the usual boring queues. Tolls are
paid by simply passing under the gantry if you are already a Telepass
Client.

To pay your tolls, find out about payment methods by clicking here.

The Traffic Code specifies a sanctions from Euro 83 to Euro 338 for
people who fail to pay tolls on time.

Please remember that starting in November 2015, roads managed by the
Autostrada Pedemontana Lombarda A36 (up to the Lomazzo interchange)
and the Ringroads of Como (A59) and Varese (A60) are toll roads.

Vehicles are detected at the "gantries".

The Free Flow system has specific support structures (called gantries)
that cover the entire road and hold up technological devices that
photograph and detect license plate numbers of vehicles in transit.

Data recorded at the gantries is then transmitted to the central
system for processing in order to identify the vehicle owner and cost
of the toll.

Toll cost detection through Free Flow will therefore be undertaken in
two different ways.

With detection of the on-board device (such as Telepass), if present
inside the vehicle, when the vehicle passes under the gantry. The toll
will be charged in compliance with the contract stipulated with the
provider of the transponder.
2. If the vehicle does not have a transponder, the cameras on the gantry identify the license plate number, the stretch of motorway
travelled, and the vehicle type and class. The system then figures the
toll with these elements. Clients can pay tolls in one of the ways
listed in the section Pay Your Toll.

But only a 6 Euro charge each from Avis? Does not compute - the typical service charge (not the fine) for a ticket on a rental car is more like 50 Euro. I suspect Avis has paid the toll and you'll not hear any more about it. If it makes you feel better, here's an Italian guy that got hit harder: https://sosonline.aduc.it/lettera/spese+amministrative+avis+autonoleggio_297249.php

It isn't a municipality it is a toll road.

All you have to do is go online, register, give the form the registration number of the car and it will display the history.

Look at the date involved and you can see what is due or if it has been paid. Use a credit card and pay it if it is still due.

It can't get much easier.

Another reason not to drive in Italy

Actually, it's another reason to read the road signs so you can enjoy the pleasures of using a car to visit Italy. While there can be a lot to process while driving, the information is not hidden. Here are some real world bilingual examples of the Pedemontana signs the drivers missed: https://www.corrieredicomo.it/pedemontana-pedaggio-nuove-segnalazioni-disservizi/ and https://www.ilgiorno.it/milano/cronaca/pedaggio-autostrada-operatori-sanitari-1.5095676

I received a fine later too and had similar questions. In the end, I just paid it and I can tell you, it’s nice to never have to think about it again.