Oil Cos, banks to pay fee at bunks

Card users not to be burdened: Minister

Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Thursday that banks and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) will bear transaction charges for petrol and diesel bought using credit cards at petrol pumps.

“The decision is very clear. Consumers will not be burdened with Merchant Discount Rate (MDR). Retail outlets (petrol pumps) will also be kept out of its purview. Now it is between banks and OMCs how they share it,” he said.

The minister said that it was a commercial decision and banks and oil marketing companies (IOC, BPCL and HPCL) will sit together and sort it out. “Banks and OMCs are discussing the issue. In the next couple of days a mechanism will be worked out so that MDR are levied from 16th,” he said.

“MDR charges will be levied as per RBI guidelines of December 16. It has not yet been decided how much burden each party will bear,” he said.

Mr Pradhan said, “Neither the customers nor petrol pump dealers will bear additional charges on digital transactions at petrol stations.”

The government, he said, had issued guidelines in February 2016 stating that the MDR charge will not be passed on to the consumers.

There was high drama earlier this week on Sunday over petrol pump owners threat to stop accepting credit and debit card payments in protest over imposition of upto one per cent transaction fee by certain banks.

However, intervention from top government officials including petroleum minister saw banks postponing the decision to impose transaction fee to resolve the issue in consultation with the petroleum ministry.