New Delhi: Have you been asked to shell out 2% more on your credit card purchases from major outlets? If yes, you could be one of those being fleeced by merchant establishments in the name of credit card surcharge.

Whenever a merchant establishment provides a facility for credit card payments he does it with a point of sale (POS) terminal. Also known as the swipe machines, these devices are installed and maintained by banks and they charge some fees from the merchants for providing this infrastructure. It is the merchant who has to pay certain fees to the bank not the customer, but of late it has become more or less a common practice to pass on this charge to the customer.

The Credit Card Holder's association of India denounces this practice and makes it clear that the merchant is not authorized to do this. "In the US, there is a law that the type of payment should not have any impact on the price... Unfortunately, in India, merchant establishments fall outside the purview of banking regulations," a senior banker voiced his concern.

Sachin Khandelwal head, ICICI Bank Credit Cards says, "Typically, there is a fee a merchant agrees to pay for a terminal... If a merchant tries to recover it from customers, they must walk out." So, if all this is illegal, what is the way out? Khandelwal, advises the customer who are asked to shell out this amount, to report such cases to the issuing bank. The bank can then blacklist the concerned outlet and can remove their terminals. Such cases should be reported to a consumer forum, since it is illegal to charge over the MRP for items.

This 2% surcharge rule is however relaxed for fuel stations, petrol pumps and railway tickets. In case a petrol pump has a tie-up with a credit card the amount is charged back into the card.