Filenews 31 March 2023 - byEleftheria Paizanou
The legal loopholes that existed in the legislation to impose additional charges on consumers when paying with credit cards are being filled.
A bill submitted yesterday to the Plenary of the Parliament clarifies that no one is exempt from the law and will denounce those businesses that impose additional charges when consumers pay with credit cards for their purchases.
Last year, parliament approved a bill designating the Consumer Protection Service of the Ministry of Commerce as the competent authority to receive complaints and supervise the market when the legal framework is violated. That is, consumers have the opportunity to file a complaint with the Service when some businesses impose additional charges on them when paying with credit cards, as the profit margin of entrepreneurs, as they claim, is small on some products.
However, despite the legislation, there are some legal ambiguities, which are invoked by retail entrepreneurs and continue to impose additional charges on consumers or force them to buy more products to increase their overall profit. The bill amends the law on the Provision and Use of Payment Services and Access to Payment Systems. The agency found that two articles in the law conflicted. According to the explanatory report of the bill, there is an interpretative conflict between Article 60(1) and Article 62(5).
In particular, under Article 60(1), where a trader levies additional charges or offers a discount when making credit card payments, he or she should inform the consumer before initiating the payment transaction. Under Article 62(5), however, the payee is not allowed to claim charges for the use of that payment instrument (card). As noted, since the intention of the legislator was to prohibit the imposition of charges by the seller as a universal and without exception, the amendment of the legislation is appropriate for the sake of legal clarity, which is why 60(1) is deleted.
