Merton Council has suspended its credit card surcharges on Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) for parking and bus lane offences.

This follows concerns raised by the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS) about the legality of a 1.35% surcharge added to all credit card payments of PCNs.

The council introduced credit card surcharges on the 15 April this year to recover costs imposed by the credit card companies.

In addition to using a credit card, those looking to pay their Penalty Charge Notice can also pay with cash, cheque or debit card. Paying within 14 days of receiving the penalty charge notice reduces the charge by half.

Information on paying parking Penalty Charge Notices can be found at: http://www.merton.gov.uk/living/transport-streets/parking/pcn/paying_pcn.htm

Merton Council’s cabinet member for finance and regeneration Councillor Diane Neil Mills said: ‘As soon as we learned of the potential problem concerning the surcharges, we took action and suspended surcharges on credit card payments for Penalty Charge Notices for parking and bus lane offences. We are investigating the situation with urgency and would ask everyone to bear with us as we work on the necessary next steps.”

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