Punch Taverns under fire over admin charge

A Punch tenant has criticised the pubco for adding a £25 plus VAT charge for every cash payment made to the company.

Carol Anderson said she was told of the charge when she rang up to order a new pay-in book.

"The girl said to me, 'you know you will get a penalty if you pay in cash'. If we pay any cash to their account for anything — beer, rent — they will charge us £25."

Anderson, tenant of the Broads Haven Tavern in Potter Heigham, Norfolk, said she pays in cash to Punch at least once a week.

"I'm disgusted," she said. "It's another way to get money out of the licensees."

A Punch Partnerships spokesman said: "As part of our Pathway to Partnership business change programme we are introducing new free methods of payment by direct debit over the telephone or, in the near future, online.

"In the transition period we are advising our partners well in advance, who currently pay with cash on order, that they will incur an administration charge of £25 for this service from the end of October.

"This administration charge is clearly outlined in our BIIBAS-accredited Code of Practice. We will be communicating these changes in writing to all of our cash-with-order partners over the coming weeks and advising them of the payment options available to them."

The new charge follows a similar move from Enterprise Inns, which at the start of the year added a monthly charge of £100 plus VAT to licensees who didn't pay the pubco by direct debit.