Consumers report that various stores and service establishments continue to impose additional fees for credit card payments, ranging from 1% to 2.5% of the total purchase value. They confirmed to 'Emirates Today' that jewelry stores and service institutions, such as schools and print shops, impose these fees, despite a prohibiting law in effect since 2011, and called for the active enforcement of this decision. Two officials from retail and jewelry stores consider charging for card payments an individual practice, primarily driven by stores' preference to receive immediate cash flow and avoid paying additional fees to banks for card processing. However, the 'Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group' and the Emirates Consumers Association stated that charging extra fees for card payments is an illegal practice and emphasized the importance of raising consumer awareness to resist such practices and their right to file complaints with the relevant authorities. The Higher Committee for Consumer Protection issued a resolution in 2011 prohibiting merchants from imposing additional fees on credit card holders, effective July 1, 2011, and imposed fines of up to AED 100,000 for collecting such fees. Consumer Complaints. Consumer Adel Hassan stated, 'There are stores and service institutions, such as schools or those specializing in printing and transaction services, that impose additional fees for credit card payments, with percentages ranging from 1% to 2.5% of the total service fees or purchase value.' Consumer Zahir Jamal said, 'Despite the law prohibiting fees for bank credit card payments, I was surprised when paying for a transaction at an institution and when buying from jewelry stores, an additional fee of about 2% of the total purchase value was imposed,' calling for the active enforcement of the ban on such fees. Consumer Susan Ahmed believes that jewelry stores are the most frequent in charging consumers additional fees for bank card payments, pointing out that the goal is to increase profits without considering the financial burden on consumers. She added, 'Some stores, especially in the jewelry trade sector or in service institutions, force consumers to pay an additional fee to increase profitability and avoid paying the fees that banks receive for using bank card payment systems.' Cash Flow and Fees. Sales manager at a jewelry store, Dilip Naitan, said, 'Charging for bank card payments is due to different operational policies from one store to another, and it's an individual practice mainly driven by stores' preference to receive immediate cash flow and avoid paying any additional fees to banks for card processing.' Sales manager at a retail store, Mohammed Idris, confirmed that the practice of charging fees for credit card payments has decreased significantly in the market compared to previous periods. He said, 'It's just a practice by some stores, and the consumer has the right to refuse or accept it given the multiple options available.' Illegal Practice. Chairman of the Board of Directors of 'Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group', Tawhid Abdullah, stated that charging jewelry stores extra fees for card payments violates the law according to the consumer protection law. Abdullah explained that the cost of using credit card payment terminals is included in the product's cost and is not supposed to be passed on to consumers, noting that some stores resort to this wrong practice to increase profits at higher rates. He continued, 'It is necessary to raise consumer awareness about the illegality of these fees and their right to refuse them, and they have the right to complain to the relevant authorities or refuse to deal with these stores and look for others in light of the availability of multiple alternatives in the market.' Additional Fees. In the same context, a member of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Consumers Association, Jassem Ali, said, 'Collecting additional fees from stores or service institutions for bank card payments is a wrong and illegal practice that we warn against and consumers should not accept, and they should look for alternative options, either from stores or service institutions.' He added, 'It is important to raise consumer awareness about not succumbing to such practices and knowing that they have the right to complain to the relevant authorities against any stores or institutions that impose such practices,' considering that increasing consumer awareness and knowledge of their rights granted by the law in the country protects them from exposure to any harmful or illegal practices in the market.' Exploiting Weak Consumer Awareness. Retail trade expert Ibrahim Al-Bahr said, 'Some stores and institutions exploit the weak awareness among some consumers of their rights and the duties and obligations of stores, and impose additional fees for credit card payments, which are calculated from the outset within the store's operational costs, thus these stores get an additional profit margin.' He pointed out that these fees are included in the profit margin, and again by collecting them from the consumer when forcing them to pay when using bank cards, and confirmed that consumer awareness to refuse or complain about such practices increases the confrontation of such practices, especially as card payment provides stores with service benefits, and it does not make sense to load their cost on consumers.
