Pennsylvania Act 46 of 2026 takes effect December 17, 2026. PA tow companies have until then to get their payment, billing, and vehicle-release practices in order.
Governor Shapiro signed Act 46, formerly Senate Bill 779, into law on July 20. It adds Section 7332, “Unlawful Towing and Towing Storage Facility Practices,” to Pennsylvania’s Crimes Code.
Act 46 builds on Pennsylvania’s 2012 Towing and Towing Storage Facility Standards Act. What changes is what you have to accept as payment, how violations get enforced, and what you need to document.
What Act 46 Requires
Act 46 does not create a new license or application process. It puts specific compliance failures into the criminal code.
- Payment methods: Cash-only is no longer an option. You have to accept cash, credit cards from common issuers, and an insurance company check (or a check from an authorized tower acting for an insurer).
- Itemized invoices and receipts: Every charge needs to be fully itemized. Callout, hookup, mileage, labor, storage, cleanup. Every line needs to match your posted rates.
- Posted rates and hours: Towing rates, storage rates, service fees, and hours of operation need to be clearly posted at the storage facility.
- Written retrieval info: If the vehicle owner or operator is at the scene, the tow truck operator has to hand them written notice with the retrieval information.
- Physical location and registration: Each company needs a street address the public can reach during posted hours. Every truck needs to be registered with PennDOT at the correct weight and classification, with your business name, address, and phone number displayed.
Penalties Are Criminal Instead of Civil
The 2012 Towing and Towing Storage Facility Standards Act came with limited civil enforcement. Under Act 46, failing to comply can bring criminal charges, significant financial penalties, and impoundment of trucks and other equipment for repeat violations.
Lessons from Other States
Act 46 follows recent legislation in other states. Hawaii and Indiana both passed laws this year with card acceptance and itemized invoice requirements, and more states have bills pending.
Indiana’s HB 1184 took effect July 1, 2026 with a nearly identical card-acceptance mandate. Writing for the Indiana Towing & Wrecker Association, executive director Sue Miles gave members guidance when the law passed and flagged the additional risk. The day you start taking cards, you inherit chargeback risk you never had with cash. She called consistent documentation “one of the most effective tools available for preventing costly chargeback disputes.”
Her guidance pointed to RoadSync as a payment processor that helps tow companies comply: taking cards from the office or the field, itemizing charges, and keeping the payment and authorization records that hold up when a charge gets disputed.
How to Comply
PA towing companies can tackle Act 46 compliance in two parts.
Actions you can take today
- Post rates and hours: print a complete fee schedule & hours, and post it at the storage facility where a customer can actually read it. Not the website. Not a verbal explanation.
- Mark trucks: check every truck for business name, address, and phone. Old decals from a prior location are a summary offense.
- Confirm, or post, a physical address: confirm the public can reach a real street address during your posted hours. A P.O. box doesn’t satisfy this.
- Standardize written scene notices: build one standardized form with your retrieval contact’s name, address, and phone. A duplicate copy or digital record proves you handed it over.
- Split tow, repair, and storage authorizations: split tow authorization from repair and extended-storage authorization.
- PennDOT registration: Verify every truck is current, at the correct weight and classification, plates matched to the right vehicle. Start now, because renewals don’t move on your schedule.
Actions you need to take by the deadline
Credit card acceptance is tough to fix overnight. You have to start a relationship with a bank or payment processor, clear underwriting, get devices (or activate phones), and train your team. That takes weeks. Give yourself room before December 17.
Cards also introduce new risk if you’ve been cash-only. Towing sees more payment disputes than most industries, and roadside distress, private property and impound tows, and friendly fraud all drive chargebacks.
How to Fight Chargebacks
In a webinar on the chargebacks in towing and recovery, RoadSync CEO Robin Gregg laid out what prevents them:
- Verify the cardholder on remote transactions with 3DS, address verification, and CVV. Use chip readers in person.
- Get signatures up front on work orders and on refund and cancellation terms.
- Match your merchant name to your invoice name exactly. A charge a customer doesn’t recognize gets disputed.
- Always respond to chargebacks. Not answering is the top reason operators lose.
The documentation Act 46 requires is the same documentation that wins chargeback disputes. An itemized invoice is legal compliance and risk mitigation at once.
Get Compliant Before December 17
RoadSync is a payment processor built for towing and the broader logistics industry. We get you compliant before December 17.
RoadSync Checkout helps you:
- Create digital work orders that authorize work before the hook goes on
- Get paid on the spot, from the office or the shoulder
- Send secure payment links by text or email
- Generate itemized invoices and receipts based on your posted rates
- Keep a complete paper trail for every transaction
- Dispute chargebacks with digital evidence and a support team behind you
December 17 is coming. Accept More Payment Types
RoadSync is a proud member of the Pennsylvania Towing Association. This article is informational and is not legal advice.