Article 8 Interchange fees for direct debit transactions
1. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, no MIF per direct debit transaction or other agreed remuneration with an equivalent object or effect shall apply to direct debit transactions.
2. For R-transactions a MIF may be applied provided that the following conditions are complied with:
(a) the arrangement aims at efficiently allocating costs to the PSP which, or the PSU of which, has caused the R-transaction, as appropriate, while taking into account the existence of transaction costs and ensures that the payer is not automatically charged and the PSP is prohibited from charging PSUs in respect of a given type of R-transaction fees that exceed the cost borne by the PSP for such transactions;
(b) the fees are strictly cost based;
(c) the level of the fees does not exceed the actual costs of handling an R-transaction by the most cost-efficient comparable PSP that is a representative party to the arrangement in terms of volume of transactions and nature of services;
(d) the application of the fees in accordance with points (a), (b) and (c) prevent the PSP from charging additional fees relating to the costs covered by those interchange fees to their respective PSUs;
(e) there is no practical and economically viable alternative to the arrangement which would lead to an equally or more efficient handling of R-transactions at equal or lower cost to consumers.
For the purposes of the first subparagraph, only cost categories directly and unequivocally relevant to the handling of the R-transaction shall be considered in the calculation of the R-transaction fees. Those costs shall be precisely determined. The breakdown of the amount of the costs, including separate identification of each of its components, shall be part of the arrangement to allow for easy verification and monitoring.
3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis to unilateral arrangements by a PSP and to bilateral arrangements between PSPs that have an object or effect equivalent to that of a multilateral arrangement.