Card payment sucharges banned in Australia from 2026

[Mr_Orange]

I just reviewed an expense claim for two Didi trips. All the trickle charges amounted to over 7.5% of the actual fare.

That's not far off the old Cabcharge days of 10%. Is anyone really saving money using Didi, etc over traditional taxis?

 

[DJTravels]

I just reviewed an expense claim for two Didi trips. All the trickle charges amounted to over 7.5% of the actual fare.

That's not far off the old Cabcharge days of 10%. Is anyone really saving money using Didi, etc over traditional taxis?

Well, the benefit of Didi is you are shown the upfront price with all the surcharges included. The actual trip fare has no relevance to you as the consumer and I suspect they deliberately add surcharges rather than increase trip fares just so they can control the amount they give to the drivers. Similar to how airlines rather increase fuel surcharges rather than adjusting their actual ticket fare prices.

 

[Mr_Orange]

Well, the benefit of Didi is you are shown the upfront price with all the surcharges included.

One of the two receipts had an extra added on to the pre-authorised amount so I guess customers aren't always shown the total.

 

[VPS]

I just reviewed an expense claim for two Didi trips. All the trickle charges amounted to over 7.5% of the actual fare.

That's not far off the old Cabcharge days of 10%. Is anyone really saving money using Didi, etc over traditional taxis?

Absolutely

 

[dajop]

One of the two receipts had an extra added on to the pre-authorised amount so I guess customers aren't always shown the total.

I've had a couple of instances when drivers took slightly longer routes and it added to the fare. When the rideshares first started, what you were quoted is what you paid. But nothing like a bit of enshitification over time.

 

[transpactraveller]

That happens to me with Uber as well, I think some of the drivers do it intentionally, a few times he'd "accidentally" miss a very obvious turn and have to go a few streets longer, then the final fare increases.

 

[CaptJCool]

That happens to me with Uber all the time, I think some of them do it intentionally, had the driver "accidentally" miss a turn off and have to go a few streets longer, then the final fare increases.

I thought Uber was a flat fare not changed by route variations ?

I note with the last taxi booking I made ONLINE from home to the airport (4am so no bus running then) that it was a FLAT PRICE. the driver didn’t turn the meter on

 

[dajop]

I thought Uber was a flat fare not changed by route variations ?

From here:
https://www.uber.com/au/en/ride/how-it-works/upfront-pricing/

The upfront price is an estimate, not a guarantee. This means your fare may increase if you travel to a different destination or make extra stops along the route, or the trip takes much longer than we originally estimated.

 

[Aeryn]

Generally on Uber the price will go up if driver takes extra toll roads, and it can also come down if the route assumed toll roads but the driver avoids them.

I quite often pay less than quoted because i redirect driver on some short cuts avoiding tolls and reducing the estimated drive time.

 

[simmomelb]

I just reviewed an expense claim for two Didi trips. All the trickle charges amounted to over 7.5% of the actual fare.

That's not far off the old Cabcharge days of 10%. Is anyone really saving money using Didi, etc over traditional taxis?

Heck yes. From my home in South Yarra to Melbourne airport is between $80 to $110 in a cab.
Didi is between $37 to $60. That's significant.

 

[auriga]

Generally on Uber the price will go up if driver takes extra toll roads, and it can also come down if the route assumed toll roads but the driver avoids them.

I quite often pay less than quoted because i redirect driver on some short cuts avoiding tolls and reducing the estimated drive time.

that's amazing
avoid tolls and reduce drive time!

 

[Aeryn]

that's amazing
avoid tolls and reduce drive time!

Uber favours toll roads but sometimes that means driving out of your way to get on said toll road especially late night where there is no traffic on surface roads so tunnels offer no benefit.

 

[Happy Dude]

I quite often pay less than quoted because i redirect driver on some short cuts avoiding tolls and reducing the estimated drive time.

So the scam is routing you the expensive way to begin with?

 

[am0985]

New Zealand announced it would ban the surcharges only for the process to stall out:

Promises to ban paywave surcharges 'going nowhere'

The government said it would axe surcharges by May to "put money back into Kiwi's pockets".

www.rnz.co.nz

Would the RBA move need Parliament to legislate here in Australia?

 

[oz_mark]

Interesting that the ACCC got Hyatt to fix a surcharging issue

Hyatt changes card surcharge practices as ACCC compliance monitoring continues

Hyatt hotels in Australia have changed their card payment surcharging practices, following an ACCC investigation. After receiving reports from consumers, the ACCC investigated Hyatt Regency Sydney, and engaged with the regional group, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, about card payment surcharges.

www.accc.gov.au

Hyatt hotels in Australia have changed their card payment surcharging practices, following an ACCC investigation.

After receiving reports from consumers, the ACCC investigated Hyatt Regency Sydney, and engaged with the regional group, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, about card payment surcharges.

 

[Mr_Orange]

Interesting that the ACCC got Hyatt to fix a surcharging issue

Hyatt changes card surcharge practices as ACCC compliance monitoring continues

Hyatt hotels in Australia have changed their card payment surcharging practices, following an ACCC investigation. After receiving reports from consumers, the ACCC investigated Hyatt Regency Sydney, and engaged with the regional group, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, about card payment surcharges.

www.accc.gov.au

Clicking though to Card surcharges, it is interesting to note that the ban on excessive surcharges doesn't apply to taxi fares. Why do they get a free pass?

 

[oz_mark]

Clicking though to Card surcharges, it is interesting to note that the ban on excessive surcharges doesn't apply to taxi fares. Why do they get a free pass?

At the time the surcharge rules were implemented, taxi surcharging had already come under a variety of state based rules. They used to be 10%-12% and the states introduced their own rules to tame them.

 

[Mr_Orange]

At the time the surcharge rules were implemented, taxi surcharging had already come under a variety of state based rules. They used to be 10%-12% and the states introduced their own rules to tame them.

Yes, I recall that happening and they are now around 5% (Cabcharge) and higher as per my Didi observation above.

Still higher than the actual cost of acceptance though, so I don't see why they shouldn't be brought into line at a federal level.

 

[oz_mark]

Yes, I recall that happening and they are now around 5% (Cabcharge) and higher as per my Didi observation above.

Still higher than the actual cost of acceptance though, so I don't see why they shouldn't be brought into line at a federal level.

Probably should be, but Cabcharge did have quite the stranglehold on the industry..

 

[transpactraveller]

Would the RBA move need Parliament to legislate here in Australia?

Quite likely, and would probably also have a start date set a few years into the future.

As an example, the equivalent EU legislation (an amendment to PSD2 regulations) was passed in 2016 for a card surcharging ban starting January 2018.... yes Australia's at least 10 years behind!
This is also the current UK law (one of many EU laws that the UK kept post-Brexit).