The rush of inflation accelerates the tear on food vouchers with an outcry from merchants who threaten not to accept them. And it matters little that consumer associations are ready for a boycott. Also because finding an agreement on what is an increasingly important part of the salary is in everyone’s interest.
The cost of the tickets, however, is becoming unsustainable for those who collect: for each 8 euro voucher, the merchants put just over 6 in their pockets. As if to say that they pay a hidden tax close to 25%. The alarm was raised by Ancd Conad, Ancc Coop, FiepeT Confesercenti, Federdistribuzione, Fida and Fipe Confcommercio, who underlining how “once management and financial charges have been deducted, a depreciation of 30% is recorded: every 10 thousand euros of vouchers collected , the affiliated businesses lose around 3 thousand euros “.
For this reason, the president of Fipe-Confcommercio, Lino Enrico Stoppani asks for “the revision of the criteria” for the next tender “because” commission levels on the level of the previous ones are not acceptable “, from about 16% to 19%,” because if these were the conditions of the assignment, it is reasonable to think that companies will no longer be in a position to accept meal vouchers “.
Worse: without a radical reform of the system, commercial distribution companies could stop accepting tickets. The tough stance comes on the eve of the publication of the BP10 tender, called by the single purchasing center, Consip, and before «starting more drastic actions». In 2019, 500 million meal vouchers were issued for a total value of 3.2 billion euros. The unified table between the trade associations urgently asks “that the next Consip tender will allow us to reduce the commissions charged to us, which are at unacceptable levels”.
About 3 million workers benefit from the vouchers, of which 1 million are civil servants. Of the 500 million meal vouchers, 175 million are purchased by public administrations, which have made them available to 1 million workers. In total, every day public and private employees spend 13 million meal vouchers in bars, restaurants, supermarkets and all affiliated businesses. For this reason, there are two priorities for companies “the immediate reduction of the price reductions requested in the tender phase for the companies issuing the meal vouchers, and the overall reform of the system, following the system in force in other countries, to ensure compliance of the nominal value of the ticket and eliminate the heavy commissions paid by the establishments where the meal vouchers are used ».
During the last two Consip tenders, 2018 and 2020, the associations denounce, “the merchants found themselves paying average commissions of 19.8% (BP8) and 17.80% (BP9)”. This mechanism ends up by «offloading the savings of the public administration on public establishments and commercial distribution».
The balance, however, is subtle. The president of Coop Italia, Marco Pedroni, explains that he continues to accept them “because a customer who is in some way your customer comes to you and asks you to do the shopping, and then maybe buy other things, otherwise that customer will do it. on the other hand, if in Europe there are commissions of up to 5% why can’t it be done here too? ».
The reaction of Codacons lasts: «If shopkeepers and restaurateurs refuse to accept meal vouchers, an avalanche of complaints will be triggered throughout Italy on behalf of workers unjustly damaged, and a class action sponsored by Codacons. Meal vouchers represent an acquired right of workers and are an integral part of employment contracts ”, explains president Carlo Rienzi.