If there is no radical reform of the system for the distribution of meal vouchers, commercial distribution and catering companies could stop accepting tickets.
An enormous damage for about 3 million public and private workers who use this tool every day to secure their meals.
The main associations of the sectors concerned, ANCD Conad, ANCC Coop, FIEPeT Confesercenti, Federdistribuzione, FIDA and Fipe Confcommercio, who want to "shine a spotlight on the degeneration of the meal vouchers system", 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".
In 2019, 500 million meal vouchers were issued for a total value of 3.2 billion euros.
About 3 million workers benefit from it, 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.
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,
Fipe, hidden tax commissions over 20%
For each 8 euro voucher, the bar, grocery store, bar or supermarket collects just over 6. For companies this is a hidden tax of 20%.
The alarm was raised by the main associations of the sectors concerned, ANCD Conad, ANCC Coop, FIEPeT Confesercenti, Federdistribuzione, FIDA and Fipe Confcommercio, which underlining how "once management and financial charges have been deducted, a depreciation of 30% is recorded: for every 10 thousand euros of vouchers collected, the affiliated businesses lose about 3 thousand euros ".
For the next call for tenders we ask for "the revisions of the tender criteria", explains Lino Enrico Stoppani, president of Fipe-Confcommercio, and "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 ". For Stoppani" there is not only the problem of economic sustainability.
but also another moral element: it is not acceptable that the State in a moment like this of the economy and of the crisis of public establishments ", in which activities are trying to recover and contain inflation", impose a new tax on catering , because that's how we define it, with the assignment of tenders with ever higher commission rates ".
That of the tickets, Stoppani points out, is "a real, serious problem that not only damages the affiliated businesses, but also the prospects of an instrument that if well managed would give a benefit to the workers" and instead the risk is that these situations " then they become pathological and market distortions occur ".
Donatella Prampolini, president of Fida Confcommercio, asks "how long this blackmail will last", and declares that it is "paradoxical that we offer a service and then we must also pay for it, then there is also a theme on the timing of payments, a theme linked to the financial costs that we still incur. We are afraid that this money will not arrive, we do not know when it will arrive ".
The general manager of Fipe-Confcommercio, Roberto Calugi, does the math.
In a Consip race,
Frausin (Federdistribuzione), we need comprehensive and radical reform
"We need a comprehensive, radical reform of the system, it is not a question of asking for a discount".
This was stated by Alberto Frausin, president of Federdistribuzione, on the occasion of the joint table between the trade associations on the subject of meal vouchers and the commissions required of companies that accept them, in anticipation of the next Consip tender.
"The auction mechanism must be conceptually revised", underlines Fruasin, who also touches on the financial theme.
"Our companies need cash, we pay our suppliers in 30 days and we collect in 60 days if all goes well, otherwise we also collect later. Lastly we also have 'bad debt", that is, if someone goes bankrupt, they are in charge of we.
We are no longer willing to go on with this game. "For Frausin,"
Pedroni (Coop Italia), we accept them so as not to lose customers
Why should companies continue to accept meal vouchers "" One says why I accept them?
We 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 somewhere else ". Marco Pedroni, president states. Coop Italia and ANCC Coop, on the occasion of the joint table between the trade associations on the subject of meal vouchers and the commissions required of companies that accept them. According to Pedroni "a form of unfair competition is triggered, because an actor provides meal vouchers that conceptually they are money, not issued by the state, but justified by the state, which in this situation has enormous profit margins, with zero risk ". Basically, he explains,"
an instrument similar to money is being introduced at a nominal value that is not real, but has a lower value ". And then he warns:" If we think that this system can be solved with the commission that goes from 20% to 10% , sure it would be a good step, but it would not be solved.
If in Europe there are commissions of up to 5% why can't it be done here too? ". In short," if something important is not changed, if there were no other way we should practice that "of abandoning the tickets.
Codacons, class action against those who reject them
"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 ".
This was stated by the consumers' association, in a note, ready for the legal battle in the event that companies and large-scale distribution should initiate actions against tickets.
"The meal vouchers represent an acquired right of workers and are an integral part of employment contracts", explains the president Carlo Rienzi.
"Any limitation or impediment to their use constitutes unjust damage to those who benefit from them, and opens the way to compensatory actions against restaurateurs and distribution companies that will refuse to accept the tickets", he adds.
The problem of "excessive commissions charged to merchants cannot be passed on to citizens, but shared solutions must be found that guarantee the exercise of workers' rights", continues Rienzi.
"For this reason, Codacons is ready to take the field to protect 3 million employees who benefit from meal vouchers and, if the catering sector and large-scale retail trade are stopped, it will present an avalanche of complaints throughout Italy and will initiate a formal class action to protect the injured workers aimed at obtaining compensation for the pecuniary damage suffered ", concludes Rienzi.
Rienzi continues.
"For this reason, Codacons is ready to take the field to protect 3 million employees who benefit from meal vouchers and, if the catering sector and large-scale retail trade are stopped, it will present an avalanche of complaints throughout Italy and will initiate a formal class action to protect the injured workers aimed at obtaining compensation for the pecuniary damage suffered ", concludes Rienzi.
Rienzi continues.
"For this reason, Codacons is ready to take the field to protect 3 million employees who benefit from meal vouchers and, if the catering sector and large-scale retail trade are stopped, it will present an avalanche of complaints throughout Italy and will initiate a formal class action to protect the injured workers aimed at obtaining compensation for the pecuniary damage suffered ", concludes Rienzi.