“Today we don’t accept meal vouchers.” Bad news for those 3 million workers who pay for breakfast, lunch outside the home and shopping at the supermarket every day with a ticket. Today bars and restaurants, public establishments and modern distribution have decided not to accept meal vouchers as a form of protest against the excessively high commissions, up to 20% of the ticket value, applied by the issuing companies for the management of this benefit which represents a third pillar for the household budget.
It is the first time that public businesses and large-scale retailers have declared a day without a ticket, while in the past a similar form of protest was organized by Fipe-Confcommercio alone.
The “No ticket day” was proclaimed by Ancd Conad, Ancc Coop, Federdistribuzione, Fiepet-Confesercenti, Fida and Fipe-Confcommercio who are asking the government to reform the system. In a joint note, the associations recall that “this is a drastic action made necessary to urgently ask the government for a radical reform of the meal vouchers system with the aim of safeguarding an important service for millions of workers and making it economically sustainable”. The meaning of the protest is contained in these last words. In fact, between commissions, fees and ancillary costs every thousand euros of tickets presented for collection, the bar, the pizzeria, the market collect about 800 euros, often after several weeks. Too little after too long in a period in which raw materials and energy are at their highest and a package of commissions that goes up to 20% becomes a difficult burden to bear. In the spotlight are the tenders to the bottom banned by the public administration. This formula allows to reduce the cost for the State that buys millions of meal vouchers but this savings is paid by those who accept the tickets. A confirmation comes from the discounts with which the tenders of the ninth Consip tender were awarded. In Calabria a discount of 21% was reached, in Sicily and Campania it was 19.8% while Liguria, Emilia-Romagna and Sardinia with the cut of 14% are the most virtuous.
The problem of commissions is felt even more by the large-scale distribution whose margins on average are around 5%. The latest legislative modification was introduced with the decree of 7 June 2017, number 122 of the Mise, in implementation of article 144 paragraph 5 of the legislative decree 18 April 2016, number 50 and provides that up to eight vouchers can be used per single receipt. of expenditure. Tickets can be spent at company and inter-company canteens, supermarkets and bars, but also in farmhouses, markets and fish farms. The same must be used exclusively for the entire face value. That is, they do not give the right to change in coins.
These are the rules followed by the large-scale distribution chains. Then there are those like Esselunga, for example, who accept them but the part of the expense paid with the vouchers does not contribute to the accumulation of Fìdaty Points on the expense. In modern catering, on the other hand, various signs issue a coupon for the rest. The strike sparked the reactions of consumer associations and Adoc, Adiconsum, Assoutenti and Federconsumatori called a counter-strike on meal vouchers, inviting Italian consumers to desert supermarkets, shops, bars and restaurants today.