OFT: OFT to take action over passenger travel sector payment surcharges.

The OFT has put passenger travel companies on notice to change misleading debit and credit card surcharging practices or face enforcement action under consumer protection laws.

Publishing its findings on these surcharges following a super-complaint from Which?, the OFT also calls for the law to be updated to stop consumers being surcharged when buying goods and services with any debit card.

Depending on the type of payment card used most travel providers will often add a surcharge for the use of that card. The OFT claims that this is misleading as the no surcharge option is only available to the small minority of those using a specific card, meaning that the surcharge is a compulsory additional cost for most.

Cavendish Elithorn, Senior Director of the OFT's Goods and Consumer Group says ‘You can't buy online with cash and people are frustrated about being asked to pay for paying.

Consumers find it harder to shop around and find the best deal if they have to invest time and effort in discovering surcharges. This also weakens competition between retailers which is bad news for the UK economy.

We believe there is also a strong case for a change in the law so that the cost of using a debit card, the almost universal payment method for today's online consumers, is always included within the headline price’.

If firms do not comply, the OFT says it will take action against them using consumer protection laws.

You can read more on Mike's blog here -

Transparency is a dirty word in the airline industry