Petrol pumps with HDFC POS machines won't accept payments in credit, debit cards

The Maharashtra Petrol Diesel Association on Sunday said that it has decided to stop taking payments through credit and debit cards on HDFC Point of Sale (POS) machines as it charges one percent to merchants/dealers on every sell.

However, there will be affect on POS machines of other banks.

"Most of the pumps use HDFC's POS machines at their outlets," Ravi Shinde, president, petrol dealers association said.

In a sudden move by banks to levy a one percent transaction fee on card payments at petrol pumps have taken the oil ministry by surprise and prompted dealers to say they will stop accepting plastic money from Monday, which could cause inconvenience to consumers in times of cash shortage and affect the government's move to encourage cashless transactions.

The one percent service fee that banks want to charge for every use of their machines has become a point of contention for petrol pump owners since they will have to incur the extra fee, not consumers.