ABTA Responds to Consultation on Above Cost Credit/Debit Card Charges

2012-10-18 — /travelprnews.com/ — ABTA – the Travel Association has submitted its formal response to the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills’ (BIS) Consultation on above cost credit/debit card charges. ABTA opposes the Department’s proposals to bring forward to 2013 a ban on above cost credit/debit card charges nor does it agree the policy changes should be applied to package travel, because it falls outside the scope of the Consumer Rights Directive.

The BIS Consultation proposes that the ban on above cost credit/debit card charges be brought forward. Travel agents and tour operators will require more time to make the necessary IT and marketing changes.  ABTA therefore argues it would not be appropriate for the ban on above cost credit/debit card charges to be implemented in the UK before the EU transposition deadline of June 2014.

ABTA believes it is unfair to extend the policy changes to cover package holidays, which sit outside the scope of the Consumer Rights Directive. Package travel is typically a low margin sector and is covered under the Package Travel Directive, currently under revision by the European Commission.

Luke Pollard, Head of Public Affairs ABTA said: “ABTA supports full transparency of pricing and has worked closely with the Office of Fair Trading to help guide policy in this area. The vast majority of our Members offer the option to pay by debit card and absorb the costs themselves to allow consumers flexibility in how they pay. However, it is important that they can offer the option to pay by credit card and be able to recoup their associated costs. We believe that any changes to the policies governing package travel should be made via the forthcoming review of the Package Travel Directive, which specifically addresses the nuances of selling package travel rather than gold plating the Consumer Rights Directive.”

The BIS consultation on above cost payment surcharges is part of a broader consultation on the European Consumer Rights Directive. As part of this, BIS is also running a consultation on the use of premium rate consumer helplines and opt out boxes, which will be ending shortly.

ABTA’s written response to the consultation is available for ABTA Members to read in full here.

For further information

Sean Tipton, Media Relations Manager, tel: 020 3117 0513
Gillian Edwards, Senior Public Relations Manager, 020 3117 0514
Victoria Bacon Head of Communications, tel: 020 3117 0515
Out of Hours:  Contact the Duty Press Officer via pager: 07659 190 987
E-mail: press@abta.co.uk
Web: www.abta.com
Twitter: @ABTAtravel

Notes to editors

ABTA has been at the heart of travel for more than 60 years. Our purpose is to help our Members to grow their businesses successfully and sustainably, and to help their customers – the travelling public – have confidence in their travel experience.

The ABTA brand stands for expertise, reliability and fairness. These qualities are core to us. They ensure that holidaymakers remain confident in the holiday products that they buy from our Members.

We help our Members and their customers navigate through today’s changing travel landscape by providing schemes of financial protection and a course of redress if something goes wrong; by raising standards in the industry and by giving guidance on issues from sustainability to health and safety; and by presenting a united voice to government to ensure the industry and the public get a fair deal.

ABTA currently has around 1,300 Members and represents over 5,000 retail outlets and offices. For more details about what we do, what being an ABTA Member means and how we’re working at the heart of the industry to ensure that we continue to build confidence in travel visit www.abta.com.

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