Governor objects to proposal for businesses to give discounts for cash payments

By The Star Staff

Although he has not yet consulted on the recommendation with the Department of Consumer Affairs, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia said Thursday that he does not agree with putting people in a position of paying with cash in exchange for “discounts,” as proposed by gasoline retailers and supported by other companies such as restaurants and supermarkets.

“I think generally speaking, each commercial establishment decides how it interacts with its clientele,” the governor said in response to questions from the press. “I mean, usually the government doesn’t get into that. Unless there are misleading ads and there are unfair practices with consumers. Another thing I’m going to comment on is that more and more, cards are used to pay. This is universal. More and more, cash is used less when paying. From my point of view there is no turning back from that, and it has its advantages because it is also, to some extent, dissuasive from the standpoint of crime, that there are not businesses with so much cash …”

“I’m not sure that the clientele is going to be happy if … what’s being done is in a way encouraging or discouraging in terms of the use of cards,” Pierliuisi added. “Although I know that what we are talking about is some kind of discount, to some extent they are telling the one who is going to use a card, you are no longer going to leave the same as the one who is going to pay in cash. And I think this is going to be seen [as discriminatory] by a lot of people and is going to make them uncomfortable. So, my call to everyone who has a business is to think about it.”