UK government officials are planning new regulations to keep airlines’ card charges from “taking off,” according to Reuters.
Britain intends to bar excessive credit and debit card surcharges connected with flight purchases and associated airline services. The European Union is expected to follow suit.
In the UK, airlines will only be permitted to tack on a minimal fee to cover the actual cost of the transaction. The ban on excessive card surcharges will likely be applied to other retail sectors as well.
Airline payment surcharges are widespread in the UK, reports Reuters. Fees for consumers amounted to $300 million in 2009, estimated Britain’s Office of Fair Trading.
“We want to make sure that consumers paying by card do not have to pay excessively high surcharges being imposed on them by some airlines and other businesses,” consumer minister Edward Davey said in a statement on Friday.
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The European Union Consumer Rights Directive from mid-2014 will block many industries, including airlines, from installing excessive payment surcharges. UK officials hope to have such a ban in place by the end of 2012.
“We need to consult to get those rules right. We need to make sure the right process is in place to help consumers challenge companies that levy excessive surcharges and we need to give business some time to get their systems ready,” Treasury minister Mark Hoban told the BBC.
Irish airline Ryanair stated its 6 pounds booking administration fee is not assessed for all cards.
“I would not expect the rules to affect us as we don’t impose any debit or credit card fees. Our administration charge can be avoided using certain types of cards,” said Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara.
Click here for more details on the new regulations from Reuters.
