STRATEGIC PARTNERS
November 3, 2002
SYDNEY -- The Bathurst City Council is considering a plan to charge every bank, credit union and building society $5,000 a year for any ATM which is accessed from a public pavement, according to a report in the Sun-Herald.
Mayor Ian Macintosh said the fee was a matter of equity, as restaurants were charged for placing chairs and tables on footpaths.
But the banks and the NSW Chamber of Commerce describe the plan as outrageous. They will lodge complaints against the fee, which is being advertised for a 28-day period before being brought into effect, according to the Sun-Herald.
Commonwealth Bank spokesman Paul Rae said the bank's legal department was considering its response to the fee, which it viewed as unfair and unreasonable.
"We are providing a service -- not just to our customers but to the local community and visitors to Bathurst -- through our ATMs and they are there because of the demand," he said.
"We already pay commercial rates and charges on our shopfront, where the ATMs are located, so we don't agree with the proposed imposition of more fees which we don't pay anywhere else in Australia. All the footpath does is provide access to the ATM just as it provides access to our front door. We haven't set up business on the footpath."
NSW Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Margy Osmond said the fee would set a dangerous precedent for councils across the State.
ATMs are an integral part of the everyday economy of shopping and business districts, she said, and fees would force banks to reconsider installing ATMs, which would hurt business. "The more difficult it is for people to withdraw money, the less inclined they will be to spend it in the surrounding area," she said.
"How can an amount of $5,000 be justified under any circumstances? In Sydney, footpath space is charged at a rate of around $8 a square meter a week. For an ATM, this would work out at no more than $900 a year," Osmond said. "Quite frankly, this is an outrageous attempt by a council to raise revenue."
