AGCM

The Authority recalls that the rule applied in these proceedings protects the rights of consumers in contracts and aims to guarantee the European Union’s objective of achieving a single payment system free of discrimination between instruments.

The activity of the Italian Competition Authority in the area of credit surcharge continues. The last fine, of EUR 5,000, was imposed on Altraepoca S.r.l. which, between February 2023 and 15 June 2024, applied a price surcharge to the consumer directly related to the chosen payment instrument, in this case PayPal, contrary to Article 62(1) of the Consumer Code.

At the end of last year the Antitrust also issued fines totalling EUR 17,500 against the companies Take it slowly by un’altra Sicilia, Sicilying S.r.l. and TICKETSMS S.r.l. as they applied surcharges - in a completely illegitimate manner - on the payment instrument used by consumers at the end of the process of purchasing services in the tourism sector and tickets for events. The Authority ascertained that the three operators envisaged - in addition to the price initially indicated during the purchase process - differentiated fees according to the payment instrument chosen, in some cases without specifying the amount. The Authority had previously intervened against other operators who charged fees for the use of payment instruments, in particular Blupark S.r.l., which was fined EUR 50,000, and De Pretto Eventi Store S.r.l., whose proceedings ended with the acceptance of commitments.

A fine of EUR 40,000, also this year, for the company República Gráfica SL, owner of the e-commerce portal https://www.pampling.com, which charged consumers commission fees for using the payment instrument PayPal. República Gráfica, moreover, had essentially acknowledged that it had violated the Consumer Code as it had carried out the contested conduct from 21 April 2022 to 9 January 2024, date on which a credit card surcharge was removed from the e-commerce portal when paying for on-line purchases with PayPal.

On the other hand, the proceedings against the company La casa della Divisa ended with commitments. The company had charged consumers buying school uniforms on the website www.casadelladivisa.it a surcharge of 3.4% on the cost of school uniforms selected previously, at the end of the purchasing process when paying with PayPal. Among the commitments proposed by the company and accepted by the Authority, a full refund of the surcharge paid by all consumers who made purchases on the site from 2020 to 2023, and a 5% discount on their next purchase for those who bought school uniforms while paying the surcharge.

The Authority also intervened with moral suasion, as in the case of the Municipality of Pescara and the U.N.E.P. at the Court of Novara, which applied a commission to pay electronically, at their offices, fines for violations of the Highway Code and expenses for the notifications and enforcement of judicial acts, and in the case of the company Service For Fun S.r.l. which applied a commission to purchase tickets for events via credit card or PayPal.

The Authority recalls that the rule applied in these proceedings is intended to protect consumers' rights in contracts and, together with the other rules of law prohibiting the application of surcharges, aims to guarantee the European Union’s objective of achieving a single payment system free of discrimination between instruments.

Rome, 30 August 2024