Card payment sucharges banned in Australia from 2026

[MELso]

Yeah, that 1.7% Service Fee is clearly illegal unless it's included in the displayed price. You should report them.

Price displays

Businesses must display clear and accurate prices, and must not mislead consumers about their prices. There are specific laws about how businesses must display their prices.

www.accc.gov.au

Mind you, restaurants and cafes can apply surcharges as there's a carve out for them from single pricing rules provided the surcharge is 'transparent' (it's been mainly used on weekends and public holidays but has been creeping in more broadly like with forced 'gratuities') so this might be legitimate (if disgraceful)...

(This is the next surcharging rule that should be abolished so we can return to the principle of 'the price you see is the price you pay'.)

 

[SeaWolf]

If it goes through the till then is it illegal? I guess maybe so. But is there a new law to prevent that? Still registers for company tax and GST.

This comes from the, not unjustified impression, that if the business is offering a discount for cash it's probably so they can fail to declare it, for tax evasion purposes.

 

[SeaWolf]

Mind you, restaurants and cafes can apply surcharges as there's a carve out for them from single pricing rules (it's been mainly used on weekends and public holidays but has been creeping in more broadly like with forced 'gratuities') so this might be legitimate (if disgraceful)...

That only applies if the surcharge doesn't apply all the time. The 1.7% Service Fee here would seem to apply always, so it has to be included in the displayed price.

Price displays

Businesses must display clear and accurate prices, and must not mislead consumers about their prices. There are specific laws about how businesses must display their prices.

www.accc.gov.au

The ACCC has an instructive example:

A restaurant charges a 10% surcharge on Sundays, 15% on public holidays and a 5% surcharge Monday to Saturday on top of the prices displayed on its menu. There is no day a consumer can purchase an item at the price that is displayed on the menu, as a minimum of a 5% surcharge applies every day.
In this scenario, the business must include a 5% surcharge in the total price of its items as a single figure. Since a 5% surcharge applies every day of the week, it is now part of the minimum total cost of the restaurant's items.
The additional surcharge the business charges on Sundays and on public holidays must be disclosed by including the words on the menu as stated above.

 

[LondonAussie]

I don’t know if the same thing will happen in Australia, but when the surcharge ban started in the UK, the banks allowed you to submit chargebacks if you got charged more than the advertised price. They would force the business to refund the difference. This made businesses fix any non-compliance “errors” pretty quickly.

 

[Pushka]

This comes from the, not unjustified impression, that if the business is offering a discount for cash it's probably so they can fail to declare it, for tax evasion purposes.

Impressions don't matter, it's what actually happens that counts. A cash discount doesn't mean dodgy tax behaviour. Just a reduced charge.

This place offers a discount for the seniors card regardless of cash or card so are you suggesting that's dodgy too for cash payments? Same principle.