Europcar will appear before the Federal Court for excessive surcharges on card payments, raising the base charge from 1% up to 1.43%.
The ACCC claims CLA Trading Pty Ltd (trading as Europcar) charged fees on card transactions that were above the cost of processing the payments – in breach of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
Depending on the type of card used and the time period the transaction occured, Europcar allegedly charged higher-than-cost rates despite a previous warning from their bank to cease.
According to the ACCC’s allegations, the car hire company overcharged customers on Visa or MasterCard credit cards between July and August 2017, as well as overcharging debit card sales between July and November 5th.
The ACCC also alleges that Europcar was made aware that it was in breach of the Act and did not immediately rectify the issue.
Rod Sims, chairman at ACCC says, “The alleged conduct by Europcar in relation to its surcharge rates is particularly concerning, given we will allege that it was well aware of its own cost of acceptance from at least July 2017.
“Businesses must not charge customers more than it costs them to process a card payment.
“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.”