Fees

Local authorities are allowed to recover enforcement costs only from those service providers they enforce. For example, Westminster Council requires the application and enforcement fee to be paid at the outset for applications for licensable sex establishments and, for every unsuccessful application, the enforcement element of the fee that has been paid is returned.

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The Directive does not encourage the setting of minimum tariffs or restricting the number of service providers but recognises that such restrictions may be necessary for reasons of Overriding Reasons of Public Interest as set out in Recitals 40 & 41 and Articles 4(8) and 15 of the Directive, which allows limits on certain types of activities.

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Yes, as long as you ensure all applicants pay the same charge when using the same card type.

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You will be able to set your own fees for each formality handled by the BIS forms service and the user will make an online payment. The fee paid and a payment reference will be supplied to you. If the user has to calculate the fee themselves, you will need to check that they have got it right.

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With online card payments you price in sterling and you get paid the amount charged in sterling by the card provider. You will typically pay a higher fee for overseas debit cards. You cannot charge applicants from other Member States more than UK-based applicants, so you should factor the cost of accepting those cards in setting your fees. You will be able to get the precise fees from your bank and payment service providers.

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Yes, if your payment engine allows it, you can charge a premium for credit card use. (Note: you cannot charge a premium to users of foreign debit cards, as that would be discriminatory.)

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Local authorities are required to accept an electronic fee payment. It is at your discretion which brands of cards you accept. However, as a minimum, you should accept both Maestro and Visa debit cards as both are widely used across Europe.

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Yes. The application is not complete unless the fee is paid although the authority must notify the applicant as soon as possible why the application has been rejected.

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All application receipts are provided via the payment engine. Your payment service provider will be able to provide you with details about the receipt.

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No. You use the merchant service (it may be called something different by your supplier) of your payment service to issue refunds.

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No. If you are charging a fee for an application you must request this at the point of application. However, you can charge a nominal application fee (clearly stating it is only part of the fee) and request further payment at a later stage of the application process.

Example: If your fee is more than someone would be expected to pay on a credit card, an authority can request a small fee up front and then ask for the rest of the fee to be paid through bank transfer.

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Yes. It is up to authorities to decide what will work best for their authority. Authorities can either:

1. Include the cost of enforcement with the application fee and if the applicant is unsuccessful refund the enforcement element of the fee
2. Request the application fee only on submission of an application and then request the enforcement cost only if an applicant has been successful.

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Refunds should be processed in the same manner they are currently. If you refund in Sterling, the banks will complete the currency conversion and the applicant will receive the equivalent amount in their own currency.

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Each authority must be able to justify the level of fees charged (unless it is set in statute in which case it's down to whichever government department owns that piece of legislation to justify the fee). On the basis that the enforcement element would be returned if an application is refused, an authority needs to be transparent about its local processes.

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Unless prescribed in legislation, fees are a matter for the local authority concerned. There are no plans to set fees nationally.

You can refer to the spreadsheet on the Communities of Practice website (registration and login required). This will help Local Authorities see what  fees and timescales other authorities have in place in respect of formalities for which they are responsible.

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