Can a UK restaurant add a card fee to the bill? Not for an ordinary consumer debit or credit card. Since 13 January 2018, regulation 6A of the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 has banned a payee from charging a payer any fee for paying by such a card. A fee charged anyway is unenforceable and repayable under regulation 10. Commercial cards are the exception, capped at cost.
What the film covers
- The card fee line a guest can claim back
- What the law says about card surcharges in a UK restaurant
- The ban on card fees: regulation 6A
- What counts as "any fee"
- The business-card exception
- Cards issued abroad
- If a card fee has been charged anyway: regulation 10
- The headline-price rule and the card ban point the same way
Questions the film answers
- Can I add a card surcharge in the UK?
Not for an ordinary consumer debit or credit card. Regulation 6A of the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 says a payee must not charge a payer any fee for paying by such a card, and the ban has applied since 13 January 2018. A commercial card is the exception, where a fee is capped at the payee's cost. This is a summary, not legal advice.
- What if I only charge it on credit cards, or only above a minimum spend?
The regulation bans "any fee in respect of payment by means of" a card that is not a commercial card. The text read contains no threshold by card type or by amount. On this article's reading, a fee limited to credit cards or to larger payments is still a fee in respect of payment by that card.
- Can I charge a fee on a business credit card?
Regulation 6A(1) does not ban a fee on a commercial card, but regulation 6A(2) caps it at the costs the payee bears for the use of that specific payment instrument. The restaurant would need to be able to tell a commercial card from a personal one and to show its cost, and the regulations do not say how.
- What if a guest has already paid a card fee?
Under regulation 10, a fee charged in breach of regulation 6A is unenforceable, and the contract is treated as providing for it to be repaid. Keep the record of each fee charged and take advice on repaying it.
- Can I give a discount for paying in cash?
The sources read for this guide do not address a restaurant offering a lower price for another payment method, so this guide takes no position. Ask local Trading Standards before trying it.
- Does the DMCC Act change the card surcharge ban?
The ban comes from the 2012 regulations as amended in 2018. The DMCC Act 2024 lists regulations 4 and 6A to 10 in its Schedule 16 of direct enforcement enactments, and the CMA's price transparency guidance (CMA209) uses the card ban as its example of a charge that may not sit on top of the advertised price.