Parking a 19p charge on top

Since January 13, businesses have been banned from adding a charge for customers who opt to pay by credit or debit card.

But one reader has told me that he’s charged 19p by payment firm RingGo when he uses his plastic to pay for a space at car parks.

“I went through my bank statements and saw that every time I’d parked at railway stations or in local authority car parks they added this extra charge,” said Paul Meek from Hampshire.

“This has been happening since the law was changed to ban fees for using credit cards.

“Those 19p charges from customers will add up to thousands and thousands of pounds.” RingGo is a trading name of Cobolt Telephone Technologies Ltd.

Its marketing director Luc Warner insisted that the charge was not a fee for using a credit or debit card, but a “convenience fee” that paid for services such as being able to top up parking payment remotely without returning to the car park.

“People pay it because they are getting a better service,” he said.

“There has never been a card fee charged by RingGo, the fee covers the benefits of the service and the card is simply the payment method.”

Mr Meek isn’t happy and has asked Hampshire Trading Standards to look into it.