Cruisin Motorhomes Pty Ltd (Cruisin Motorhomes) has paid a penalty of AUD 12,600 after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued an infringement notice for an alleged breach of the excessive payment surcharge laws in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
Cruisin Motorhomes operates a campervan and motorhome rental business, with branches in Hobart, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns, an ACCC statement said yesterday.
The ACCC alleged that, in January 2018, Cruisin Motorhomes charged Visa and MasterCard customers a 2% surcharge, despite the cost of processing the payment ranging from 0.41 to 1.48%.
The excess payment surcharge laws provide that businesses can only pass on to customers what it costs them to process a payment. For example, if the cost of acceptance for MasterCard debit is 0.41%, a business can only add a 
surcharge of 0.41% for customers who pay by MasterCard debit card.
“The ACCC alleged that Cruisin Motorhomes imposed credit and debit card surcharges that were higher than its cost of processing the payments. This practice is prohibited by the Competition and Consumer Act 2010,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.
“If businesses choose to impose a surcharge, they can only charge customers what it costs them to process a payment.”
“Businesses need to ensure the credit and debit card surcharges they impose comply with the law or they risk facing ACCC action,” Keogh said.
The ban on excessive surcharging for card payments came into effect for all businesses on 1 September 2017. If a business is unsure what the cost of acceptance is for a particular payment method, they should contact their financial institution for guidance before charging consumers.
Cruisin Motorhomes cooperated with the ACCC’s investigation after being made aware of the ACCC’s concerns, including taking steps to review and reduce its surcharges.
Edited by Peter Needham
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