Petrol pumps not to accept debit/credit card payments from Jan 13

New Delhi: Petrol pumps, who had earlier decided not to accept debit and credit cards for payment from midnight on Sunday, have now changed their decision and extended the payment dates till January 13.

Debit and credit cards will not be accepted at the petrol pumps for filling fuel in the vehicles from January 13, said Ajay Bansal, President of All India Petroleum Dealers Association.

The recent decision came after banks deferred their decision to levy charges on card transactions in petrol pumps till Friday as the government intervened in a spat between them and pump owners.

Banks have deferred their plans to impose charges on card transactions at petrol pumps until Friday after talks with the government, an oil ministry spokesman said.

The decision of non-acceptance of the credit and debit cards had been taken to oppose the banks' directive of charging 1 per cent from petroleum dealers in the name of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR), he added.

Interacting with the media persons after the conclusion of a two-day State-level convention of petroleum dealers here on Sunday, Bansal said that every petroleum dealer was operating with a 2 per cent profit margin.

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A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) notification dated December 16 said that an MDR ranging between 0.25 per cent and 1 per cent will be charged for each debit card transaction, while an MDR of 1 per cent will be deducted for each transaction done through credit card.

"The petroleum dealers are operating on a very thin margin. The deduction is unaffordable. So, we do not have any other way than to stop accepting debit and credit cards," said Ajay Bansal.

On being reminded that the petroleum dealers were going against government direction, Bansal said they are left with no other options. He further said that the decision has been conveyed to the Petroleum and Finance ministries.

The transactions done through Paytm or BHIM application will, however, be accepted.

"Petroleum dealers will continue to accept payments through Paytm and Bhim apps. But we will have to stop accepting Paytm if they impose charge for each transaction," he added.

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Currently, there are at least 28,000 petrol pumps across the country, which accept payments through Paytm.

Assuring support of petroleum dealers to the Centre's move of promoting cashless transactions, Bansal said, "But we cannot afford to pay from our margin. We want our profit margin (of 2 per cent) intact," Ajay Bansal concluded.