Just Eat slammed for introducing 50p charge on all orders

Takeaway food app Just Eat has been criticised for introducing a 50p service charge on all orders.

The change was introduced on Monday, just days before new legislation banning credit and debit card surcharges comes into effect on Saturday.

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Previously, the online takeaway delivery firm levied a 50p surcharge on debit and credit card payments, prompting accusations that the company is trying to get around the law.

The EU ban on fees for credit card transactions was designed to save consumers up to £473m a year in card charges.

“These new rules should finally put an end to consumers paying excessive surcharges and additional fees just for using their cards,” said Gareth Shaw, a money expert at Which?.

“Trading Standards must now make sure this ban is enforced across the board, and that businesses can't find sneaky ways around it,“ he added.

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Hannah Maundrell, editor in chief of Money.co.uk, also criticised Just Eat for introducing a 50p service charge on all its orders.

"It's wrong for companies to rebrand credit card fees as service charges," she said.

"The law was changed to stop businesses from profiting from unnecessary credit and debit card fees. So this makes a mockery of the law which is trying to protect us from getting ripped off."

'Admin fee'

In 2016, Just Eat revealed that “payment card/admin fee revenue” accounted for about 13 per cent of its total revenue.

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The company forecasts revenue for 2017 at between £500m and £515m, which suggests the loss of the card fee cash would have cost the company over £50m.

However, because the new charge applies to both cash and card transactions, Just Eat, which entered the top flight of the FTSE Index in November, could generate even more revenue than before.

In a statement, Just Eat said: 'As of 8 January 2018 we have made a change to the way restaurants are charged to process Just Eat orders – a 50p service charge will be implemented for all orders.

'The 50p charge simply means that along with our restaurant partners, we can continue to deliver the best possible takeaway experience.'

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