HP0498
LD 715
PUBLIC Law, Chapter 113

Signed on 2009-05-11 00:00:00.0 - First Regular Session - 124th Maine Legislature
 
Text: MS-Word, RTF or PDF
LR 783
Item 1
Bill Tracking Chamber Status

An Act To Enable the Use of Credit Cards for Governmental Transactions

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 9-A MRSA §8-303, sub-§2-A  is enacted to read:

2-A   Notwithstanding subsection 2, a governmental entity may impose a surcharge for payments made with a credit card or debit card for taxes, fines, charges, utility fees, regulatory fees, license or permit fees or the provision of a specific service provided by that governmental entity if the surcharge:
A Is disclosed clearly to the consumer prior to payment; and
B Does not exceed the costs associated with providing the credit card or debit card service that are directly incurred by the governmental entity or assessed by an authorized 3rd-party payment service provider for a credit card or debit card transaction. If there is not a cost assessed by an authorized 3rd-party payment service provider for a debit card transaction, the governmental entity may not impose a surcharge associated with a debit card transaction.

A governmental entity shall disclose to the consumer that the surcharge may be avoided if the consumer makes payments by cash, check or other means not a credit card or debit card. A governmental entity is not subject to any liability to the issuer of a credit card or an authorized 3rd-party payment service provider for nonpayment of credit card charges by the consumer. As used in this subsection, "governmental entity" means a county established or governed by Title 30-A, Part 1, a municipality as defined in Title 30-A, section 2001, subsection 8, a quasi-municipal corporation as defined in Title 30-A, section 2604, subsection 3 or the Judicial Department as described in Title 4.

Effective September 12, 2009


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