Six more months to have fun at the restaurant!
The government is preparing to announce that the ceiling for the use of restaurant vouchers will remain at 38 euros per day until February 28, 2022. This measure, decided in May 2020 after the first confinement was to end on August 31, ie next Tuesday , Capital revealed.
Information confirmed by several government sources.
In short, as of September 1, the way in which restaurant vouchers are used will not revert to its pre-crisis operation and its limit of 19 euros per day.
"The Minister
[Bruno Le Maire]
has again positioned himself for the extension of the removal of the cap to 38 euros, we are told.
A decree, currently being drafted, will be published in the coming days to make this aid continue.
"
The other easing of the use of meal vouchers are also maintained.
Thus, they can still be used during the week, weekends and holidays to eat.
On the other hand, in food stores, nothing changes: The limit is still set at 19 euros per day.
An average basket between 14 and 17 euros
At the time of its announcement, the measure was presented by the government as "a powerful tool for reviving the activity of restaurateurs". A major stake since the market for restaurant tickets weighs 7 billion euros in France. The measure has been so popular that in the world of catering, professional organizations are pleading for it to be written in stone. Contacted, Charly Belisson, in charge of the meal voucher file at Umih, the leading employers' union in the sector, negotiate with the Ministry of the Economy for "a complete sustainability of the measure".
Sign, according to him, that the measure is "effective", the president of the college of restaurateurs within the national commission of restaurant vouchers (CNRT), Romain Vidal, affirms that the average basket of use of the restaurant voucher, has increased by 4 to 7 euros with the doubling of the ceiling. “As a reminder, in 2019, it was 9.80 euros per person on average, he explains. It is now between 14 and 17 euros on average according to information from the various operators. In addition, the use of titles on Sundays increased by almost 10%.
If this boost allowed the restaurateur to breathe a little, it was also a boon for the employees who had accumulated restaurant tickets when they were confined to from March to May 2020. Nearly 1.5 billion euros were lying around in their wallet! According to Bercy, moreover, all the titles of 2020, which had been extended to 2021, have since expired. But if you happen to have some left in the back of a drawer, you'd better know: on August 31, last year's tickets will no longer be valid. Don't panic, it is possible until September 15 to exchange these expired tickets with your employer."The tickets not used during this period and returned by the beneficiary employees to their employer at the latest during the following fortnight are exchanged free of charge against an equal number of tickets valid for the subsequent period", specifies article R. 3 262-5 of the Labor Code.