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Skyrocketing gas prices have left many independent gas stations struggling to pay the credit card transaction fees charged by companies such as Visa and MasterCard, and so some stations are now charging different prices for customers who pay with cash instead of credit.

But according to state officials and consumer advocates, the way in which some stations are doing so is illegal.

State law prohibits businesses from adding a surcharge to transactions when consumers pay with a credit card. But the same law does allow businesses to offer a discount to consumers who pay with cash.

Thus, explained Charles Carroll, deputy director of the state division of standards, it's legal for a gas station to charge $3.13 a gallon and then subtract 5 cents a gallon when customers pay with cash. However, it's illegal for a gas station to charge $3.08 a gallon and then add 5 cents a gallon when customers pay with a credit card.

Carroll recommends that if gas stations decide to charge different prices, their signs should list both side by side. "Otherwise, that's deceptive," he said. The difference is between rewarding cash customers and penalizing credit card customers, said Paul Schlaver, chair of the Mass. Consumers' Coalition. "So the gas stations in your area better be careful how they handle this," he said.

Oddly, the most famous case of a business violating the surcharge law involves the Boston Red Sox. In 1988, the Sox were forced to stop charging ticket-buyers a credit card surcharge after the state attorney general found the practice illegal. As penance, the team had to donate over 3,000 tickets to local recreation departments.

Still, even if a company follows the law to the letter, consumers are getting a raw deal, according to Deirdre Cummings, legislative director for the public interest group MassPIRG.

"To the consumer, that's legal-shmegal, frankly," Cummings said. "A customer right now is struggling to pay for a whole lot of things, and to add surcharges ... on top of high transactions - it's just not fair."

The price of oil briefly topped $110 a barrel on Wednesday, closing at $109.92. The average cost of gasoline in the Attleboro area this week is $3.08 a gallon, according to AAA.

In Attleboro, at least two gas stations are among those now charging different prices to cash versus credit customers.

At the Mobil station in County Square, a hand-written note above the sign listing gas prices warns customers that they must pay "5¢ extra on credit." State law, however, says: "No seller in any sales transaction may impose a surcharge on a cardholder who elects to use a credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check or similar means."

On Wednesday afternoon, employees at the station said there was no way to reach a manager for comment.

Another gas station charging different prices for cash and credit is Super Petroleum in the city's downtown. Super Petroleum's main sign lists gas prices, with a posting underneath that says "Cash Price." At the pump, however, Super Petroleum has signs that say cash customers will get a 5-cent discount.

Mike Bugazia, the president and CEO of Super Petroleum, said he is aware of the surcharge law and took extra care to make sure his stations are in compliance. "I did a lot of research, and I want to do it right," he said. Contrary to what some consumers may think, the rapid rise in gas prices is actually hurting independent stations like Super Petroleum, Bugazia said.

Credit card companies and processing firms keep about 2.5 percent of every sale as an administrative fee, according to the Petroleum Marketers Association of America. Therefore, as customers' gas bills go up, so does the amount of money stations pay Visa, MasterCard, and other firms to process the transactions.

However, gas stations' profit margins are fixed at about 7 to 11 cents a gallon. Thus, although the cost of processing credit cards goes up at the same rate as gas prices, gas stations' profits do not. The ballooning cost of those fees has sparked a national backlash, including a class-action lawsuit, against the credit card companies.

"It's very tough," Bugazia said. MassPIRG's Cummings agreed, to some extent.

"The folks that own those local gas stations, for the most part, are not making those record profits," she said. But businesses need to accept paying the credit cards fees as a cost of doing business, she argued.

Indeed, not all gas stations are charging different prices for cash and credit, and some are even promoting the fact that they don't. For the past few months, Gas Plus on Pleasant Street in Attleboro has posted a sign informing customers that the station charges the same for cash and credit.

"We've thought about it, because it seems like everybody else is doing it, but we're not going to do it," said Tom Frye, the manager of Gas Plus. "We're actually getting a lot of people saying they're glad we charge the same amount."

Ray Deiri, the owner of the Getty station further down Pleasant Street, said he knows many of his customers prefer to use a credit card and he tries to accommodate them by keeping prices the same regardless of the payment method.

"They're already paying high enough on gas prices," he said. "To add more to the gas prices (in order) to pay with convenience is not fair."

TED NESI can be reached at tnesi@thesunchronicle.com or 508-236-0434.