Fees for using credit or debit cards to buy items including airline tickets online have been banned by the British Government. The move follows complaints that airlines, entertainment ticket booking agencies and some councils were imposing excessive "hidden" charges for using a card which can sometimes be as high as £20/€24.
For example, the low-cost airline Ryanair charges £6 per person per leg of the journey for the use of most cards and British Airways charge £4.50 per booking by credit card: with the majority of such fees added at the final stage of online transactions.
The Treasury Minister Mark Hoban said consumers should be able to see "up front" how much they will have to pay. Adding “we want consumers to be able to shop around. They have a right to understand the charges they may incur up front and not be hit through a hidden last-minute payment surcharge." Businesses will still be able to add a small charge to cover the cost of a payment method but will be banned from adding excessive fees.
Britain's Office of Fair Trading estimates that last year consumers spent around £300 million on payment surcharges in the airline sector alone.
2 comments:
I have a bad experience similar to this one. I thought I was getting a pretty good deal I found online. When it's time to pay up, I discovered the hidden charges. I was really disappointed and frustrated.
It's about time there was a law getting rid of hidden fees somewhere. Now I wish there would be similar laws in place everywhere. Hidden fees are such a hassle.
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