Abu Dhabi store fined Dh100,000 for credit card fee charge

The Ministry of Economy carried out its threat and fined a mobile phone shop in Abu Dhabi Dh100,000 for charging an extra fee on a credit card used by its holder in a purchase deal, business sources said on Tuesday.

The shop on Defence Road, home to more than 100 mobile phone stores, imposed a 2.25 per cent fee on the customer without his knowledge after he bought a mobile handset for around Dh1,200, they said.

When the customer checked his bank account, he found that a sum of Dh1,227 had been taken off although his purchase bill showed he paid Dh1,200.

The bank told the customer that he had been charged Dh27 by the mobile phone shop and advised him to lodge a complaint to the Ministry of Economy.

The sources said the bank assured the customer that it does not charge credit card holders and told him to either complain or return the handset to the shop.

“The customer went straight to the Ministry of Economy on Monday morning and filed a complaint….three hours later, two inspectors came to the shop and handed it a notice asking it to pay Dh100,000 fine,” one source said.

“The man in charge of the shop said he would appeal the decision after he was told by the inspectors that he could do so.”