Gas prices may be falling nationwide, but some people on Long Island are shelling out mind-boggling sums at the pump.
Eighteen gas stations in eastern Long Island are charging more than $2 per gallon credit card fees, according to CBS 2 New York. (H/t Consumerist.)
Suffolk County's Weights and Measures Bureau has received 23 complaints about the issue in the past few days alone, according to CBS 2. One customer reported being charged a $15 service fee for using a debit card.
Are you being charged a fee for using your credit or debit card to purchase gas? Let us know by emailing money@huffingtonpost.com
County officials says nothing can be done about the fees.
"We can't do anything in regards to the extra charging for that $2 per gallon for use of the credit card. It's not illegal," said Clifford Coleman, Suffolk County Director of Weights and Measures, in an interview with CBS 2.
At many gas stations, the difference between cash and credit usually is 10 cents per gallon, according to ABC 7. But the difference at one Long Island gas station was $6.19, according to ABC 7.
New York state law apparently forbids credit card surcharges, but it allows discounted prices for using cash, according to Newsday.
Lee Zeldin, a New York state senator, is drafting a bill that would require gas stations to post their credit card and cash prices on signs near the curb if the credit card price is at least 7 percent higher than the cash price, according to ABC 7.
Though gas stations are being charged less by debit card companies thanks to the Durbin Amendment in the Dodd-Frank Act, gas stations are failing to pass on the more than $1 billion in savings to customers, according to a recent survey by the Electronic Payments Coalition, a lobbying group representing Visa, MasterCard and a variety of small and large financial institutions.