Consumer NZ Warns Against Sunday Surcharges This Weekend

Consumer NZ has issued a warning to New Zealanders that businesses cannot use a public holiday as a justification for surcharges applied on Easter Sunday.

The consumer watchdog clarified that while hospitality and retail businesses often add surcharges on public holidays to offset increased wage costs, Easter Sunday is not a statutory holiday. Under the Fair Trading Act, businesses are prohibited from misleading customers regarding the reason for an additional charge.

Jon Duffy, chief executive of Consumer NZ, stated that businesses are permitted to apply surcharges if they choose, but they must be honest about why the charge is being implemented. He noted that if customers disagree with a surcharge, they have the option to take their business elsewhere.

Legal Obligations and Disclosure

Under the Fair Trading Act, businesses must clearly disclose any surcharge in advance. Consumer NZ emphasized that these charges should not be hidden behind counters or placed in inconspicuous areas, such as employee toilets.

When a business applies a surcharge to cover specific costs, such as paying employees time-and-a-half in accordance with the Holidays Act, the surcharge should not exceed the actual costs incurred by the business.

The rules, as they exist under the Fair Trading Act, simply say that businesses can’t mislead you about the reason for that surcharge.

Jon Duffy, Chief Executive of Consumer NZ

Jessica Walker, acting head of research and advocacy at Consumer NZ, explained that public holiday surcharges differ significantly from credit card surcharges. While credit card surcharges may be applied at any time of the year, public holiday surcharges are only applicable on days defined as public holidays.

Walker noted that in previous years, some eateries have incorrectly claimed that a surcharge was being applied because Easter Sunday was a public holiday. She stated that for the current month, only Good Friday, Easter Monday, and Anzac Day are days where businesses can apply genuine public holiday surcharges.

Statutory Public Holidays

To avoid confusion, Consumer NZ provided a list of days defined as public holidays under the Holidays Act:

• Christmas Day
• Boxing Day
• New Year’s Day
• The day after New Year’s Day
• Waitangi Day
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• ANZAC Day
• King’s Birthday
• Matariki
• Labour Day
• Regional anniversary days

Because Easter Sunday is absent from this list, any business claiming a public holiday surcharge on that day risks breaching the Fair Trading Act.

Consumer Recourse and Card Surcharges

Consumers who believe they have been misled by a surcharge are encouraged to lodge a complaint with the Commerce Commission. Members of Consumer NZ can also contact the organization’s Consumer Advice Line. Consumer NZ has requested that people email playfair@consumer.org.nz if they encounter public holiday surcharges on Easter Saturday or Sunday.

The issue of surcharging extends beyond public holidays. Jon Duffy highlighted that inconsistent surcharging is common across the country, particularly regarding EFTPOS terminals and payment methods.

The New Zealand government introduced legislation in 2025 to ban in-store card surcharges. However, as of April 3, 2026, the bill remains on Parliament’s Order Paper, four months after the Finance and Expenditure Committee published its report.

Duffy suggested that instead of applying temporary surcharges during holiday periods, businesses could choose to spread their holiday wage costs across the entire year.