Prohibits certain surcharges on certain credit or debit card transactions in the city of New York; provides that no agency or department of the city of New York, or any tribunal located therein, shall be authorized to impose a surcharge on a holder who elects to use a credit or debit card in lieu of payment by cash, check, or similar means to pay any fine, civil penalty, or fee owed.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A111
SPONSOR: Berger TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to prohibiting certain surcharges on credit or debit card tran-
sactions
PURPOSE:
To prevent a surcharge from being imposed when using a credit card or
debit card to pay a fine, penalty or fee.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one would amend subdivision 3 of section 11-105 of the adminis-
trative code of the city of New York and add a new subdivision 4 that
would prevent any agency, department or tribunal of New York City from
imposing a surcharge on a person who pays a fine, penalty or fee with a
credit or debit card. It also defines the terms, "Holder", "Issuer",
"Credit card" and "Debit card."
Section two sets an effective date 90 days after it shall become law.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill prevents the city of New York from charging an additional fee
when using a credit or debit card. New Yorkers are already over-fined,
over-ticketed and over-taxed. Requiring New Yorkers who pay their fine,
fee or penalty with a debit or credit card, to pay an additional
surcharge on top, is unnecessary and excessive. As our economy moves
towards more utilization of card-based transactions, the fee for using a
credit card places an unneeded burden on the people who are simply
trying to pay what they owe to the city or its 'agencies. New Yorkers
are tired of being nickel and dimed, especially when they are just
trying to fulfill their financial obligations to the city.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2017: A8043-Referred to cities
2018: A09755-Referred to cities
2020: A992-Referred to cities
2022: A729-Referred to cities
2023: A5428-Referred to cities
2024: A8217-Referred to cities
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To Be Determined
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
111
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BERGER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Cities
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to prohibiting certain surcharges on credit or debit card
transactions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 11-105 of the administrative code
2 of the city of New York, as amended by chapter 309 of the laws of 1996,
3 is amended and a new subdivision 4 is added to read as follows:
4 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary except
5 for subdivision four of this section, any agency or department of the
6 city which, pursuant to an agreement entered into under this section,
7 accepts credit cards as a means of payment of fines, civil penalties,
8 taxes, fees, rent, rates, charges or other amounts owed by a person to
9 the city shall be authorized to charge and collect from any person
10 offering a credit card as a means of payment of a fine a reasonable and
11 uniform fee as a condition of accepting such credit card in payment of a
12 [fine, civil penalty,] tax, [fee,] rent, rate, charge or other amount.
13 Such fee shall not exceed the cost incurred by the agency or department
14 in connection with such credit card transaction, which cost shall
15 include any fee payable by the city to the financing agency.
16 4. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no agency or department of
17 the city, or any tribunal located therein, shall be authorized to impose
18 a surcharge on a holder who elects to use a credit or debit card in lieu
19 of payment by cash, check, or similar means to pay any fine, civil
20 penalty, or fee owed. For the purposes of this subdivision, the follow-
21 ing definitions shall apply:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00808-01-5
A. 111 2
1 a. "Holder" means a person to whom such a credit card or debit card is
2 issued or who has agreed with the issuer to pay obligations arising from
3 the use of a credit card or debit card issued to another person.
4 b. "Person" includes an individual, corporation, partnership or asso-
5 ciation, two or more persons having a joint or common interest or any
6 other legal or commercial entity.
7 c. "Issuer" means a person who issues a credit card or a debit card.
8 d. "Credit card" means and includes any credit card, credit plate,
9 charge plate, courtesy card, or other identification card or device
10 issued by a person to another person which may be used to obtain a cash
11 advance or a loan or credit or to purchase or lease property or services
12 on the credit of the issuer or of the holder.
13 e. "Debit card" means a card, plate or other similar device issued a
14 person to another person which may be used, without a personal identifi-
15 cation number, code or similar identification number, code or similar
16 identification, to purchase or lease property or services. The term does
17 not include a credit card or a check, draft or similar instrument.
18 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
19 have become a law.
