ACCC driving point home

Europcar in court over card surcharges

THE consumer watchdog has launched Federal Court proceedings against Europcar in its first legal action under laws banning companies from imposing excessive surcharges on customers paying with credit and debit cards.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleges the car rental company knowingly overcharged MasterCard and Visa customers by as much as 0.65 per cent between July and the beginning of November last year.

That, contravened the ban on excessive payment surcharges that took effect in 2016. Europcar allegedly charged card users more than it cost the company to complete transactions.

The company also allegedly ignored its bank, which notified it of the actual costs of card payments, and continued to charge an excess rate, the ACCC says.

“Businesses must not charge customers more than it costs them to process a card payment,” Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims (pictured) said yesterday.

“The ACCC’s action serves as a warning that the ACCC is paying close attention to those businesses who seek to overcharge customers making payments by credit or debit cards,” he said.

The proceedings only relate to outlets owned and operated by Europcar, not franchises.

In Australia, 96 out of 126 Europcar outlets are owned and operated by the firm.

THE ACCC IS PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO THOSE BUSINESSES WHO SEEK TO OVERCHARGE CUSTOMERS MAKING PAYMENTS BY CREDIT OR DEBIT CARDS ACCC CHAIRMAN ROD SIMS