$6 Credit Card surcharge that Qantas charges

[odysseus]

Which is illegal. Australian (fiat) money is still marked "legal tender throughout Australia and its territories". You have to accept it by law.

Which many have disregarded - witness the number of vending machines (and the cash bridge toll when it existed) that didn't accept all coins. It was reported when a limit was introduced because of that, but nothing happened.

 

[JohnK]

Which is illegal. Australian (fiat) money is still marked "legal tender throughout Australia and its territories". You have to accept it by law.

The company I work for does not have a shop front or cash registers or anything of the like. Illegal? Who knows but if you want an insurance policy the premium will be direct debited from a bank account/credit card account you nominate.

How about the road tolls in Melbourne or the M7 in Sydney? Cash is disappearing fast from some areas.

 

[oz_mark]

Which is illegal. Australian (fiat) money is still marked "legal tender throughout Australia and its territories". You have to accept it by law.

Even the RBA doesn't believe that

It is the Bank’s understanding that, although Australian currency has legal tender status, it does not necessarily have to be used in transactions and that refusal to accept payment in legal tender notes and coins is not unlawful.

RBA: Legal Tender

 

[Soundguy]

Thanks for that info oz_mark.

So our notes are all marked "legal tender" and the RBA agrees that legal tender by definition means they must be accepted and the legislation also states this as a fact. BUT the RBA also says 'well yeah in some cases they might not be accepted, which is cool in our opinion'.

Hmm.... if only the speed limits were like that 'yeah this is the speed you are supposed to go as the law states and as the signs state but we know that in some instances some folk will not obey this, which is cool'. Could be applied to traffic signals too..... :shock:

The obvious difference in acceptance being which scenario affects government income, of course.

 

[NM]

The obvious difference in acceptance being which scenario affects government income, of course.

There is another obvious difference .... something to do with public safety and traffic signals . Not sure how many people are kill or seriously injured each year for due to credit card surcharges or non-cash payments, but I suspect the number is significantly higher for people disobeying traffic signals.

 

[oz_mark]

So our notes are all marked "legal tender" and the RBA agrees that legal tender by definition means they must be accepted and the legislation also states this as a fact. BUT the RBA also says 'well yeah in some cases they might not be accepted, which is cool in our opinion'.

I don't even know whether their opinion has ever been tested in court, which would be the final arbiter on whether cash had to be accepted or not. Clearly, they don't think it does, and they proably have the most informed opinion on the matter.


But do note the question mark over whether a debt is enforceable where cash payment of that debt has been declined.

 

[Soundguy]

There is another obvious difference .... something to do with public safety and traffic signals .

OK, poor analogy! What if we were to apply the scenario to paying taxes, that sort of flexibility would work for me....

Reminds me, the Sydney road tolls are a mess if you rent a car and don't have your own e-tag thing. If they accepted cash (many don't now) or had an e-tag arrangement with the car rental companies then I would pay them.