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Ban on credit card surcharges proposed

Abu Dhabi - Consumer protection committee of Ministry of Economy discuss possibility of banning the collection of additional fees for credit card services

A high level consumer protection committee of the Ministry of Economy discussed the possibility of banning the collection of additional fees for all credit card services and transactions.

In January this year, the committee had banned additional collection on credit card payments in the health and education sectors and for purchasing airlines tickets.

The ministry had rightly banned the additional charges but several leading educational institutions in Abu Dhabi are still charging 2.5 per cent on school fee payments made through credit cards, a parent complained. Some jewellers also charge 2.5 per cent additional fee for transactions through credit cards.

Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, chaired the second meeting of the Supreme Committee for Consumer Protection for 2016, which was attended by the top officials from various government departments.

The agenda included recommendations on topics covered by the committee during the previous meetings, the most notable being proposals to adopt a certified guidance document and standardised contracts for electronics and criteria for auto garage approvals in the UAE.

Attendees also considered suggestions on how to best support the development of the UAE's consumer protection system.

One of the recommendations presented was to establish a national agenda for consumer protection that would begin by raising awareness and then lead to more consumer empowerment.

The session was attended by Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Economic Affairs; Humaid bin Butti Al Muhairi, assistant undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for commercial affairs and consumer protection; Dr. Hashim Al Nuaimi, Director of the Ministry's consumer protection department; and committee members from the local and federal governments.

haseeb@khaleejtimes.com