Puerto Rico Credit Card Surcharge Law (Law 150-2008)

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This page is general information, not legal advice. It is current as of September 16, 2026, and summarizes the primary sources listed at the end. The official texts of Laws 150-2008 and 152-2013 are in Spanish; the English descriptions and quotations here come from the First Circuit's May 29, 2025 opinion in Asociación de Detallistas de Gasolina de Puerto Rico, Inc. v. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, No. 24-1188, which relied on certified translations. Check current rules with your processor and Puerto Rico counsel before you set card pricing. CELER Merchants is an independent merchant services agent, not a law firm or a processor.

What Law 150-2008 says, and what Law 152-2013 changed

As the First Circuit describes it, Article 1 of Law 150-2008 provided that no merchant may impose a surcharge on a consumer who chooses to use a credit card instead of cash. Article 2 said a merchant may offer discounts to promote payment in cash. Article 4 set a penalty of a fine of up to $500, up to six months in prison, or both. In 2013, Law 152-2013 amended Law 150 and eliminated Article 2. The Legislature said its purpose was to eliminate the duality and coexistence of parallel markets and to protect the consumer as the weakest party in a commercial transaction.

Cash discounts after 2013

According to the First Circuit, DACO's Administrative Order 2014-002 interpreted Law 152 as eliminating the use of discounts as an incentive to pay in cash. A Puerto Rico trial court later sided with gasoline retailers who wanted to offer cash prices, but the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals reversed on September 30, 2016, finding the Legislature clearly intended to eliminate the possibility of two different prices for the same good or service based solely on the payment method, and the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico declined to hear the appeal. The gasoline retailers in the 2025 case said they stopped posting a lower cash price because of the threat of fines and prosecution. Treat dual pricing, cash discount and "non-cash adjustment" programs as high-risk in Puerto Rico and get local counsel's written view before using one.

The 2025 First Circuit ruling

In 2023 a group of more than 450 gasoline retailers renewed a federal suit to stop enforcement of Law 150. They argued that the federal Cash Discount Act and the Durbin Amendment give merchants a right to offer cash discounts. The district court dismissed the case, and on May 29, 2025 the First Circuit affirmed. It held that the Cash Discount Act regulates card issuers, not merchants or territories, and does not create an absolute right for merchants to offer cash discounts. It held that the Durbin Amendment's cash discount provision, 15 U.S.C. 1693o-2(b)(2), regulates payment card networks, not states or territories. The court did not decide whether Law 150 is unconstitutionally vague, because it found that claim was not properly pleaded.

Card network rules

Card network rules sit on top of local law, and in Puerto Rico local law is stricter. Visa's Merchant Surcharging Considerations and Requirements document applies to the US and US territories and says debit and prepaid cards cannot be surcharged, and that any credit surcharge must stay within your cost of acceptance and never above 3%. Those network permissions do not override Law 150: a network allowing a surcharge does not make one lawful where local law prohibits it.

What merchants in Puerto Rico should do

1. Do not add a surcharge for paying by credit or debit card. 2. Check every terminal, online checkout and invoicing tool for card fees or convenience fees that switch on automatically, including settings copied from mainland locations. 3. Do not post a separate cash price or cash discount without written advice from Puerto Rico counsel. 4. If you sell online to Puerto Rico customers from another state, ask counsel whether Law 150 applies to those sales. 5. To lower card costs, review your pricing model and statement instead: interchange-plus pricing, correct transaction data and fewer downgrades affect cost without a customer fee. 6. Recheck the rules at least once a year.