Lawmakers go after gas pricing policies
West Babylon resident Jovan Robinson buying gas at a Gulf station in Hauppauge that is asking for an additional dollar from those purchasing gasoline with a credit card. (March 13, 2012) Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
State lawmakers are proposing to outlaw or at least restrict gasoline stations from charging more for credit card purchases.
Legislation to outlaw the practice was proposed in January by State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola). A memorandum to justify the bill says, "This method of payment pricing practice unfairly deceives consumers."
The Assembly sponsor is from Orange County -- Nancy Calhoun (R-Blooming Grove), who said Wednesday she had enlisted Assemb. Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor) as a co-sponsor.
Another Long Island lawmaker, State Sen. Kenneth LaValle, (R-Port Jefferson), plans to introduce legislation Thursday that would limit the credit-to-cash price spread to 5 percent -- or about 24 cents on a gallon of gas costing $4.859 for credit customers.
And the chairman of the Senate's consumer protection committee, Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), said he will propose legislation requiring stations to display cash and credit prices prominently on curbside signs if the difference is more than 10 cents a gallon.
Newsday reported Wednesday that some stations were charging $1 a gallon more for credit card purchases. A BP station on Motor Parkway in Brentwood, for example, posted $3.859 for cash and $4.859 for credit.
"I find it outrageous that a gas station is able to get someone in front of the pump before they find out there's such a huge difference," Zeldin told a reporter in Albany Wednesday. Usually, the difference between cash and credit prices is about 10 or 15 cents a gallon.
State business law forbids surcharging for a credit card purchase but allows a "discounted" price for cash. However, the law is not enforced because it does not define what constitutes a discount or a surcharge.
Martins' bill is awaiting action in the Assembly and Senate consumer committees.
Ralph Bombardiere, executive director of the Inwood-based Gasoline and Automotive Service Dealers Association, says his 1,500-member group is likely to oppose all three measures for trying to restrict members' ability to recoup what credit card issuers charge them for each transaction.
He deems it "blatantly ridiculous" for cash-paying customers to have to subsidize credit card users and said that the expensive curbside signs aren't required at all by law, although many stations have them.
Newsday staffer Ted Phillips contributed to this story.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
