It has been told by the Auckland retail advocate that the holiday surcharges do not apply on the Easter Sunday.

Cameron Brewer, who is the Chief Executive of the Newmarket Business Association, said that the café goers should not pay any surcharges for the Easter Sunday.

"Easter Sunday is not an official public holiday. However, people get confused because of the major retail restrictions in place on Easter Sunday and because it's part of a public holiday weekend", said Cameron Brewer.

Surcharges are applied to many cafes on Good Fridays and Easter Monday because it is a public holiday and all the people who work on this day are paid extra.

Mr. Brewer said that it would be more confusing for people when Anzac Day falls on Sunday and is a public holiday.

In Wanaka, several retailers were open and the air show which took place over Wanaka by Warbirds attracted thousands of visitors. From the reports it was also seen that five shops were open in Auckland and four were open in Wellington.

Last year, 17 businesses were fined for violating the law.