Punta del Este gas stations will stop receiving card payments from April 4

Gas stations in the department of Maldonado, which contains seaside resorts such as Punta del Este, announced that as of April 4 they will not accept payment for fuel with credit or debit cards.

With this decision taken, the Fuel Sellers of Maldonado (Vecoma) reignited a conflict that has been going on for several years, but which became particularly important last December.

“We appreciate your understanding and regret the inconvenience caused,” says a statement distributed on Tuesday, March 29, issued by the Maldonado stationers' guild, which brings together some 23 establishments in the sector in that department, Maldonado Noticias reported.

Fuel sellers continue to claim a reduction in the tariffs applied to them by credit and debit cards on the amounts they charge customers. The last time the possibility of applying a measure in this regard was latent, in December, the conflict was unlocked because the summer season was approaching.

On Monday, December 20, after a meeting with the vice president of Ancap (state fuel company), Diego Durand, the measure was put on hold, although the situation of high tariffs with the banks issuing major international cards remained latent.

The spokesman for the Maldonado Fuel Sellers, Nicolás Pascareta, said that this “is an old issue and we have exhausted the roads” to find answers from credit card issuers that allow them to increase their profits by lowering tariffs, according to Aspen FM.

He also clarified that the decision taken has nothing to do with a political issue, especially after the referendum that took place last Sunday in Uruguay where the result indicated that 135 articles of the Urgent Consideration Law will not be repealed. This law, among so many articles, weighs fuel prices for the country.

According to Pascareta, at the end of last year, it was partly decided not to apply any measures so that it was not linked to the referendum that was announced for the month of March.

He reiterated that the guild understands that the instances of dialogue are exhausted and that after the communiqué released yesterday, no meeting with authorities is planned. He added that for many service stations the situation is almost untenable.

In December, the spokesman explained to the press that the five foreign banks that manage international cards impose a tariff that then gets the approval of the Central Bank and that there are certain products that cannot withstand such high and variable tariffs. For every 1,000 Uruguayan pesos (23 US dollars) of super naphtha that is put into a car, the station has 97 pesos (2 dollars) of gross profit left and from that they have to pay fees and obligations. Of those 97, 30 ($0.7) are taken by cards and another 30 are taken by companies for trademark rights.

What happens is that every time the price of fuel rises, they suffer a reduction in profitability. Pascaretta considered the order logical, since everything that surrounds the sale of fuel is priced. That is why, according to him, tariffs should be charged.

“By increasing fuel by 27%” at the end of 2021, during Luis Lacalle Pou's government, the tariff rose considerably and “there is the mother of the child,” he said, since the law requires gasoline stations to accept this type of payment throughout the country.

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