AGCM

According to the Authority the three companies imposed a surcharge on consumers for the use of certain payment instruments in a completely unlawful manner

The Italian Competition Authority has fined the companies, Take it slowly by un’altra Sicilia, Sicilying S.r.l. and TICKETSMS S.r.l., a total of 17,500 euro.

According to the Authority, these three companies applied surcharges to the payment instrument used by consumers at the end of the process to purchase tourism sector services and event tickets. Specifically, the companies charged the consumer - in a completely unlawful manner - a surcharge directly related to the chosen payment instrument (a so-called surcharge or credit card surcharge), in breach of article 62 of the Consumer Code, according to which the beneficiary of a payment may not impose charges on consumers for the use of certain payment instruments.

The Authority ascertained that the conduct of the three operators consisted in establishing - in addition to the price initially indicated during the purchasing process - various commission charges according to the payment instrument chosen, to be paid by the purchaser, in some cases without specifying the amount.

These fines follow other recent interventions taken by the Authority against operators who charge consumers fees for the use of payment instruments, in particular Blupark S.r.l., which was fined 50,000 euro, and De Pretto Eventi Store, whose proceedings ended with the acceptance of commitments.

The law applied in these proceedings is intended to protect the rights of consumers in contracts and, together with legislation prohibiting the application of surcharges, aims to guarantee the European Union’s goal of achieving a single payment system free of discrimination between instruments.

 Rome, 2 January 2024