ACT Party issues dissenting opinion on payment surcharge ban

Friday, 14 November 2025

ACT, along with Labour and the Greens, has concerns about the surcharge ban and says it will continue to talk to its coalition partners.

The ACT Party has dissented from a select committee report on banning the likes of Paywave surcharges in shops and bars, raising further questions over whether the ban proposed by the Government is likely to eventuate.

The Government announced in July that it intended to stop businesses imposing payment surcharges on contactless payments made in-person using Paywave and most credit cards by May at the latest, arguing some retailers were overcharging for their costs and the change would save shoppers money.

However, ACT MP Todd Stephenson joined Labour in declining to endorse the Retail Payment System Amendment Bill when Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure select committee finalised its report on the proposed law change on Thursday.

In its dissenting opinion to the select committee’s majority report, the party doubled down on its concern the ban could increase prices for consumers by undermining the use of eftpos and other alternatives to the likes of Mastercard and Visa.

Businesses, retailers and industry representatives had expressed serious reservations about the practical impacts of a surcharge ban, it said.

“Many noted that such measures would likely require them to either absorb transaction costs directly, pass those costs on to consumers in other ways, or, in some cases, discontinue the use of contactless payments altogether.”

ACT’s commerce and consumer affairs spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar had previously written to the committee suggesting a major change that would effectively gut the surcharge ban by stipulating it should only apply to retailers that didn’t offer a free alternative to contactless card payments, such as eftpos or cash.

In its separate dissenting opinion, Labour said it agreed with the principle that consumers should “pay the price they see on the shelf”.

“However, we do not support adding costs to small business,” it said.

The bill has been expected to return to the House for its second reading next week.

But the Greens are understood to have similar concerns to ACT and Labour, raising doubts over whether the Government will have the ability to advance the bill in its current form.

Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson indicated last month he believed the Government could rely on ACT’s support in the final votes.

“Ultimately, Cabinet has already agreed to the bill and we intend to progress it,” he said.

ACT said in its dissenting opinion it would continue to discuss its concerns with its coalition partners.