Stationers from all over the country had threatened in mid-January to suspend all operations carried out with credit cards due to “deficiencies in the collection system”, but at a meeting of the board of directors of the Confederation of Commerce Entities of Hydrocarbons and Related Products (CECHA) decided to reverse the measure, which was to come into effect in the coming days. The businessmen indicated that the possibility of paying for fuel through this method will be maintained, but it was also resolved to “intensify their claims through legislation in order to put an end to the damages caused daily” by the payment terms.
The leaders reaffirmed the existence of delays in the accreditation terms and the commissions set by the companies issuing the plastics, the core of the controversy unleashed in the midst of the announcements made by the companies that sell fuel.
“The objective is to achieve the modification of Law 25,065, which allows the definitive establishment of 0.5% of the fee for payment operations with credit cards, regardless of the bank or the issuing entity, and that the accreditation is reduced at 48/72 hours”CECHA remarked in a statement released in the last few hours.
Within this framework, the vice president of that organization, Vincent Impieriexplained that This week they appeared before the Commerce Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation and requested to be summoned urgently “to present our position and to be able to advance in the treatment of the project in question”.
Among the arguments of the service stations to stop accepting credit cards were the delays in crediting the money -which today is 10 days-, the high operating cost -the credit card commission is 1.8%- and the moderate increase in fuels -which rose below inflation in the last 2 years, as a result of government controls-.
As argued by the industry, The combination of these factors had affected their profitability to such an extent that they put their operation at risk, although they finally decided not to proceed with the measure..
