Originally Posted by
JEFFJAGUAR
Regarding your last paragraph, we went through a discussion of this and I don't want to kidnap the thread but...although I know several states despite the legislation allowing surcharges on cc's had or still have prohibitions on surcharges, the one in NY was thrown out as a violation of freedom of speech (I finally read the decision and to me it's still a stretch; basically the judge said there really is no difference between a surcharge and a discount for cash so why should a merchant be prohibited from a surcharge when he or she can charge extra simply by calling it a cash discount). But the question is this; does any state, even the ones which prohibit surcharges, enforce the reg against gasoline retailers and do anything about their surcharges hidden as cash discounts? Apologies but I don't see any analogy to dcc.
To my knowledge, NY is the only state where the courts have thrown out the distinction between a surcharge and a discount. In the rest of the country, there is still a legal distinction and discounts are always lawful. As long as the gasoline retailers portray it as a cash discount rather than a surcharge, it would not be illegal in any state.