Just as the holiday season kicks off in the week that coincides with the peak sales season, gas stations across the country have warned that they could Stop accepting credit card payments.
The sector chamber It supports low profitability.
This was stated by the Confederation of Hydrocarbons and Related Business Entities (CECHA). establish a deadline of 48 hours for the payment of the credit and reduce the percentage of commissions set by plastics companies to more than half.
In a statement, they indicated there were “subsequent claims and a favorable court ruling.”
As it is, they ask review the commission charged for sales made at top-up points, where together with taxes they fluctuate between 1.5 and 1.8%, while in neighboring countries it is 0.5%.
They also recall that the broadcasters’ payment deadline is within 48 hours, as is the case in neighboring countries such as Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.
In mid-November, gas stations obtained a favorable sentence in the first instance in the province of Santa Fe, carried out by the Argentine Federation of Domestic Naphtha Distributors (FAENI), one of the main member chambers of CECHA.
This sentence of the TAR ordered the reduction of the tariff to 0.5% and the reimbursement within three days.
“In an inflationary country like Argentina, it clearly is incomprehensible that it is only credited after 10 dayswhich in most cases ends up being 15,” the stationers complained.
Claims of low profitability have long come with oil companies as well.
Stationers say they face wage costs and now the $24,000 bonus and that their rates paid by oil companies are “low” and margins “are broken.”
As expressed in the press release released last Saturday, “the current financial conditions are joined by joint negotiations and high operating costs, which put at risk the existence of many stations in Argentina,” they said.
And they expanded: “Today we are on the verge of an unsustainable situation which can become irreversible for almost 50% of the stations whose sales are below the equilibrium point”.
By the way, they ask lawmakers to amend the Card Act to set a maximum of 0.5% of the fee for payment transactions with credit cards, regardless of the bank or issuing body, and that accreditation be reduced to 48 or 72 hours.
“With no immediate solution, unfortunately we are forced to stop selling fuel with credit cards,” they warned.
Gas stations get a gross profit of 8%, which after tax is 2.5% net. of this sector About 60,000 families depend on it.
As soon as Flavia Royón took office as Secretary of Energy last September, Pedro Llorvandi, secretary of the Sector Chamber, raised the problem facing the sector.
“The discrepancy between revenues and costs of Service Stations is becoming more and more profound. According to the calculations of federal technicians, based on official numbers, it is very probable that by the end of the year 2022 they will have closed the doors around 400 points of sale that are not sustainable today”.
Source: Clarin
