Hyderabad: Due to the lack of small change and the government’s encouragement to adopt methods of digital payment, customers are willing to pay by card at points of sale, but they are being discouraged by merchants who demand an additional two per cent for card transactions.
Bankers say that the imposition of the additional charge is illegal and customers need not pay anything above the billed amount.
Kailash Agarwal, the owner of a general store in Amberpet, says that bankers charge merchants between 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent for each transaction.
“Banks don’t collect additional charges from merchants those who have over 200 transactions per day. But small and medium merchants who have less than 200 transactions per day must pay the extra charges. To avoid losses, we insist that the customers must pay an additional two per cent for card transactions,” he says.
M.S. Kumar, the secretary of the Bank Employees’ Federation, asks customers not to pay the additional charges.
