All imposed or compulsory charges, he insisted, should always be included in the APR.

Any compulsory charges are liable to VAT at the same rate as the principal supply.

Meanwhile the British Retail Consortium, the retail sector's trade body, slammed the idea of compulsory charges for plastic bags.

Because airlines are obliged to include all compulsory charges within their advertised fares, they get around the requirement of including this handling fee in the price by providing at least one way of paying that's free of charge.