Warning on public holiday surcharge

Businesses applying a surcharge on Labour Day are being warned not to mislead customers after a company at Wellington's stadium came close to breaching the Fair Trading Act on Waitangi Day.
Catering company Spotless Services received a warning from the Commerce Commission following the International Rugby Sevens tournament on February 6, this year and in 2009, when it applied a 15 per cent surcharge to food and drink prices at the stadium.
An investigation found the company recovered significantly more from the surcharge than the actual cost of meeting obligations under the Holidays Act.
However, signage posted on the stadium's concourse stated "Please Note 15 per cent Surcharge (Due to Holidays Act)".
The commission said that if businesses gave a public holiday as a reason for applying a surcharge, that surcharge should accurately reflect their costs of opening.