Europcar Australia has reached a joint resolution with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to a case relating to allegations that the Europcar network in Australia contravened the credit and debit card surcharge rules in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 by unintentionally overcharging debit card fees and some credit card fees between 19 July 2017 and 5 November 2017.
Although Europcar in Australia had received relevant data from its financial services provider in mid-July 2017 a system limitation delayed implementation of the new rules.
The company acknowledges that between 19 July 2017 and 5 November 2017 some customers were unintentionally overcharged an average of $1.07 per customer. All 63,012 customers affected by this error were fully refunded the amount unintentionally overcharged resulting in a total payment of $67,215.59.
We have accepted a penalty of $350,000 as part of the settlement with the ACCC in recognition of the limitations in our rental system during this period.
The company has fully cooperated with the ACCC since it commenced its investigation in October 2017. At every step we have sought to be open and transparent with the ACCC to identify and correct this issue and to ensure the best possible outcome for all of our customers and provide the high-quality service they can rely on.
