'Stores not allowed to add extra fees for card payments' - Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman

South African consumers are protected by law from being charged extra for using their bank cards to pay at tills.

According to the Consumer Protection Act, the price displayed is the final amount payable and any additional “card swipe fee” is unlawful.

For example, if an item you're purchasing is R95 and the vendor charges you R100 because it's R5 extra to swipe your card, the R5 surcharge is not allowed, according to Lee Soobrathi, Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman.

"A supplier, it could be an informal trader, it could be someone you see at a market, they are not allowed to charge you a surcharge simply because you want to use a card," Soobrathi says.

"In fact, that's deemed and seen as a penalty; it's as if I'm being penalised because I'm choosing to use a debit or cheque card.

"The answer is clearly 'no'. In South Africa, you're not allowed to charge a surcharge simply because you choose to use your bank card as a method of payment."

To listen to Soobrathi in conversation with Lester Kiewit on CapeTalk's Breakfast Show, use the audio player below: