There has been little change to card surcharge levels since the introduction of new surcharging rules last year, according to consumer group Choice.Choice said most domestic airlines, for example, were still hitting customers with the same surcharges they levied in March last year, when the new rules were introduced.Comparing airline surcharges with the average merchant service fee charged by Visa and MasterCard, Choice found that surcharges ranged from three to 20 times the merchant service fee.Under the rules introduced by the Reserve Bank last year, merchants have a right to recover their card acceptance costs through a surcharge. The "reasonable cost of acceptance" includes the merchant service fee, which is charged by the merchant's acquiring bank, and some additional costs.Card scheme operators have the right to change their scheme rules to limit surcharging to "reasonable cost".One reason there has been little change may be that merchants are not aware of the new rules. In its most recent merchant-acquiring report, published in December, East & Partners said that 63.1 per cent of the merchants it had surveyed were not aware of the new rules.East & Partners' data shows that surcharging is widespread, although most of it appears to be reasonable. The average charge is a little over two per cent.More than 50 per cent of large merchants apply surcharges, and more than 30 per cent of micro and small-business merchants do so.A significant proportion of respondents currently not surcharging said they were planning to introduce surcharges. Ever since the new rules were introduced, interested parties have commented on the difficulty of enforcing them. In a submission to a review of the issue by the Commonwealth Consumer Affairs Advisory Council, Visa said card schemes have to limit the activities of merchants with whom they do not have direct relationships. This is because card schemes have to work through acquiring banks and it is these that have the direct relationship with merchants.