The Fukuoka District Court on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by a gang executive who argued that refusing him an ETC card illegally blocked his use of the expressway and amounted to unreasonable discrimination.
Presiding Judge Masakatsu Tange rejected the plaintiff's claims. The defendants were six expressway operators, including NEXCO East Japan, and the government, which holds their shares and has the authority to issue administrative guidance.
The man applied in July 2023 for an ETC personal card, which can be used without a credit card, at an office the six companies run jointly, according to the complaint. On the form he struck through with a double line the statement that he was not a gang member, and filled in the other fields without error. The following month he received notice that his application could not be accepted.
The argument in court
The plaintiff argued that expressways are public property and that every interchange is expected to be ETC-card only by fiscal 2030. Being unable to use the expressways simply for being a gang member is unreasonable discrimination on the grounds of belonging to a particular social group, he argued, and therefore illegal.
ETC — electronic toll collection — lets drivers pass toll gates without stopping. The personal card is issued to drivers who do not hold a credit card.