From 13 January 2018, it will be illegal to charge a hirer extra or a surcharge for using a personal credit or debit card to pay for a journey.
Surcharges will no longer be permitted on personal Visa/MasterCard credit or debit transactions.
This change of law is at EU level.
The European Payment Services Directive (PSD2) will make it illegal for any business to charge extra for using a personal debit or credit card in the EU from 13 January 2018.
Currently, in Ireland, SPSV services can pass on charges that genuinely reflect their costs up to a maximum of 5% as detailed on the Maximum Fares Order. The “costs” mean the amount that the bank charges the driver to process a credit or debit card payment. This will be banned ion 13 January 2018.