It's more trouble for SEPTA as the same attorney who sued the agency over service cuts filed another lawsuit Wednesday over recent fare increases.

The lawsuit says the Philadelphia-based transit authority's across-the-board 21.5% fare increase that went into effect on Sept. 14 violates a state statute that requires "reasonable judgment" prior to a fare hike.

In an exclusive interview, attorney George Bochetto told CBS News Philadelphia that SEPTA made up a fiscal crisis this summer to pressure state lawmakers to give the agency more money.

CBS News Philadelphia first reported about the class action lawsuit in September when Bochetto said according to a state statute, SEPTA did not hold adequate public hearings that allowed for questions from riders and answers from SEPTA officials prior to the fare increase.

A judge ruled in Bochetto's favor last month, and SEPTA had to reverse all the cuts it had made to services.

Now, Bochetto is making a similar argument to the one he made over the service cuts, referencing SEPTA's stabilization fund in this latest lawsuit.

"It must use reasonable judgment and exercise reasonable standards in fare increases. This is unreasonable. This is flat-out draconian, particularly when they have a stabilization fund that has at least $400 million in it, which is a rainy-day fund for SEPTA to use to avoid these kinds of draconian increases," Bochetto said.

A spokesperson for SEPTA said its legal team is reviewing the lawsuit now, so the transit authority doesn't have a comment at this time.

CBS News Philadelphia will update this article with a response from SEPTA once we receive it.

Now that the lawsuit was filed, the next step requires a judge to certify class action status, which could take two to three months. If certified, Bochetto would ultimately like to see all the fare increases reversed and refund SEPTA's riders for the increased fares.