“Do you want a ticket?” † By 2023, after paying for their purchases at checkout, consumers should no longer necessarily hear this phrase. Unless the government, under pressure from consumer associations, revises its copy.
The anti-waste law voted on February 10, 2020 should lead to the disappearance of the systematic printing of receipts, credit card receipts and purchase receipts of 1er January 2023. With rare exceptions, such as the purchase of certain durable goods, consumers will therefore no longer receive these tickets, regardless of the amount and nature of the purchase, unless they expressly request them.
The decree regulating the implementation of this measure is currently being consulted by the National Consumer Council (CNC). However, a collective of 12 consumer associations sitting there, including the CSF, Families of France, Rural Families and the UFC-Que Choisir, on Tuesday, April 19, called on the government to amend the texts to “that the choice to obtain a ticket is systematically offered”†
“Payment terminals are being reconfigured”
“Nowhere in the decision does it say that the trader must obtain the consumer’s consent for whether or not to print the receiptestimates Matthieu Robin, deputy director of studies of the UFC Que Choisir† There is indeed an informational display at the till, but it will be drowned out by all the other posters and consumers won’t necessarily see it. And there are no sanctions for those who don’t report it.”†
By suppressing the printing of these receipts as standard, this amounts to depriving the consumer, according to the associations “the ability to assert one’s rights”† Right to a refund if a purchased product has expired, an exchange of an item that is too large or a legal guarantee of conformity for a non-food purchase, says Mr Robin. “But also to check whether the actions are applied correctly, or whether no money error has been made. Even scams during contactless payments in, for example, cafes where the terminal screen is not facing the consumer. †
The Fédération du commerce et de la distribution (FCD), which represents most retail brands and also participates in the CNC, does not have the same reading of the text. “The decree does not go into detail. But it is a measure that we have been talking about for more than two years and in our stores the payment terminals will be reconfigured by our service providers.explains Philippe Joguet, director of CSR (social and environmental responsibility) at the FCD. For credit card payments, which represent more than 60% of collections, the terminal will display an on-screen display allowing the customer to choose whether or not to have a ticket. And for the other means of payment, the host or the cashier picks up the customer’s wish. † The associations mainly ask “that the law be made right from the beginning”, so as not to pave the way for different interpretations.
