To try and bring ourselves into at least the 20th Century we have
started accepting payment of fees online (as we're a CPA this is
mainly for fees that cannot go via Planning Portal, such as Minerals
applications). We decided to use GOV.UK pay as that was a simple
option that our IT dept were willing to implement. What nobody told us
until after launch was the transaction fees for using the service -
all through testing these had been 0).
The fees are not huge <1% but for large applications where the
fees are often in the £000s that is still a significant amount
compared to handling cheques (unknown, largely 'hidden costs' of
manual handling - but 'fixed' cost rather than %age).
I know other authorities accept card payment online/over the phone.
Do they just absorb the transaction cost? I realise most businesses
would just see this as part of the 'cost of doing business', but it's
causing waves of issues here... Is the fact that we do not actually
receive the full statutory amount of the planning fee a problem?
I assume that the Planning Portal absorb the transaction fees as part
of their £25 service charge they impose on the applicant for using
their system, because they always transfer us the full fee due.
We cannot calculate the cost and charge the applicant the fee,
because it varies depending on the type of card used (unknown until
they pay).
Any thoughts/justifications/internal discussions/agreements with
management about this issue would be interesting to hear.
