BMV to credit drivers overcharged for licenses

Indiana's Bureau of Motor Vehicles says motorists the agency charged too much for driver's licenses will receive credit for the amount they were overcharged.

BMV Commissioner R. Scott Waddell said Friday in a statement that the agency will "immediately" credit motorists' accounts with the department for the amount they were overcharged.

He said the BMV believes it's "important to return the overcharge directly to those who have been impacted" in light of what he called the "recently discovered overcharge."

Waddell's statement doesn't say how many drivers will receive the credit.

The BMV said in May in response to a class-action lawsuit that it "may have inadvertently" overcharged drivers for licenses. That suit alleges Indiana collected up to $30 million more than it should have by overcharging drivers for their licenses.

The lawsuit said millions of drivers were charged $4 to $7 more than state law allows when they obtained or renewed their licenses.

Irwin Levin, the lawyer who first exposed the alleged $30 million in overcharging in the lawsuit, called Friday's announcement a "political" move designed to gloss over the state's faults.

"They got caught with their pants down," Levin said.

Levin said the state still owes some drivers another $2.50 wrongfully charged fees and should also pay interest. Levin plans to depose Waddell soon for the continuing lawsuit and said he is still seeking state records that could show the BMV charged too much on purpose.

A BMV spokesman did not immediately respond to Levin's charges that Friday's announcement was a political move.