Question:
My wife is a social worker and has a private practice. Some clients pay cash and others pay via credit card. I am aware that there is an issue of Ribbis in charging the credit card customers an additional fee to cover the costs.
- Firstly, I would assume that it doesn’t work the other way around – meaning if I charge $100 and then give a $5 discount to those paying cash.
- Additionally, the root of the issue is that you can’t charge two prices for the same service. In this industry, it is commonplace to raise fees every so often and only raise the fees for the new clients while giving the older/lower price to the existing customer. Is this also an issue of Ribbis?
Thank you.
Answer:
Hello,
- If the fee is indeed only to cover the extra cost that you have because of the credit charge and not because you are getting the money later it is permitted. This is not considered charging two prices as it is the same price, but one way has certain side expenses which have o be covered.
- You are allowed to charge, new customers a higher price. In fact there is a halacha that one may not pay for an item in advance in order to lock in the cheaper price of now, because he is getting it cheaper than the actual price at the time, because he gave the seller a loan. However at the selling time, one can charge a higher price for services that are rendered at that time
Best wishes
