Cabcharge Australia Ltd will offer compensation to customers who may have been misled when paying for taxi travel using a credit card after Australian Competition and Consumer Commission action.
"The ACCC has received a large number of complaints relating to discrepancies on credit card statement compared with invoices issues from the Cabcharge electronic terminals in taxi cabs due in part to the calculation of Goods and Services Tax", ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels, said today. "Consumers have complained that they authorised a lesser amount at the end of their journey than they were charged later on their credit card statement.
"There is evidence that many more customers have complained to both Cabcharge and their credit card providers.
"The ACCC was concerned that such conduct may be misleading or deceptive in breach of the Trade Practices Act 1974.
"In response to ACCC inquiries, Cabcharge said that electronic terminals in cabs were being progressively updated with new software to handle the Goods and Services Tax. In some cases, customers were not charged the correct amount in the cab and the difference was levied on the statement".
As a result of the ACCC inquiries, Cabcharge has agreed that it will:
- credit all customers for any difference between the amount authorised by the customer's signature on the Cabcharge invoice and the amount subsequently charged on the card statement;
- ensure that all electronic terminals in taxis are updated to clearly show the true cost of the taxi travel; and
- retain an independent auditor to conduct an audit to ensure that all invoice discrepancies as outlined above are identified and are correctly refunded.
The ACCC is continuing its active GST enforcement role to ensure that consumers are protected from potential misleading and deceptive conduct following the introduction of the GST.
Consumers wanting more information about the ACCC and its role and responsibilities should visit the ACCC web-site at www.accc.gov.au.