A woman is silhouetted as the Telus Corp. logo is displayed on a screen during a company event in Vancouver, B.C., Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. The CRTC has refused a request by Telus Corp. to introduce a processing fee in Alberta and British Columbia on payments made by credit card. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
OTTAWA – The CRTC has refused a request by Telus Corp. to add a credit card processing fee on certain services.
The federal telecommunications regulator says the request applied to services that it regulates, generally home telephone services in certain smaller communities.
Telus had asked the regulator to approve the fee for credit card payments made in Alberta and B.C. for regulated home telephone services.
Earlier this year businesses secured the right to add a surcharge, which they must clearly disclose, to credit card transactions as part of a class-action lawsuit against MasterCard, Visa and Canadian banks.
Telus began to charge a 1.5 per cent fee to clients paying by credit card in October in areas where services are not regulated by the CRTC, including its wireless and internet customers outside of Quebec
The CRTC says while Telus didn’t need its approval to add the surcharge to the unregulated services, it is concerned about the practice as it goes against affordability and consumer interest.
Telus first filed an application in August requesting permission to add a 1.5 per cent processing fee to its terms of service.
In the application, Telus said the surcharge was intended to cover credit card payment processing costs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2022.
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