2023-07-30 12:00:00
As of Tuesday, August 1, customers of many businesses will have to explicitly request their receipt to obtain it.
End clap for the receipt… or almost. Announced for January 1 and then for April 1, 2023, before being postponed twice, the cessation of systematic ticket printing will finally take effect next Tuesday in France. “It is on August 1 that this provision, voted within the framework of the climate and resilience law, comes into force.“welcomed the office of the Minister Delegate for Trade Olivia Grégoire, saying that the professionals were “readyfor this change.
A few days before the entry into force of this measure, many questions arise. Why was it decided? Will it still be possible to obtain a receipt? What are the alternatives ? What do traders think? Le Figaro answers you.
What will change on August 1?
Concretely, from August 1st, with a few exceptions, receipts, credit card receipts, all those issued by automatic machines as well as purchase vouchers will no longer be printed automatically, but only if the customer requests it. . “The only thing that will change is that, if you want the receipt, remember to ask for it“, explains Olivia Grégoire.
Why such a measure?
The executive defends an ecological measure: up to 30 billion receipts, bank cards and vouchers are printed each year in France, and most will end up in the trash. The only 12.5 billion receipts alone represent 150,000 tons of paper, or 25 million trees cut down or 18 billion liters of water consumed, according to figures from Ademe. “Immense unnecessary expenses for our planetin the words of Olivia Grégoire, andso many pieces of paper that are difficult to recycle which, moreover, are almost systematically thrown away by a certain number of French people as soon as they have been given them».
What are the exceptions?
Be careful to understand the measure, warns Bercy: “it is not a question of a ban on issuing the receipt, but of giving the possibility to the consumer to refuse it“. Many “exceptions“supposed”protect consumers» remain.
The ticket will always be printed automatically for products under legal warranty (household appliances, telephones, gardening appliances, etc.), weighed products, services for an amount greater than or equal to 25 euros (hairdresser, mechanic, etc.), bills and bills in hotels and restaurants and access to goods or services (motorway, parking). The same applies to transactions that are cancelled, not completed or subject to a pre-authorization regime and for credit transactions (reimbursement or transfer of funds).
How will consumers be informed?
Merchants will themselves be responsible for informing their customers of this change, by posting a message at the checkout “in clear, readable and understandable termsas required by the implementing decree. The General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) will be responsible for ensuring that traders play the game well. Controls are planned, “like those made to check the consistency between the price displayed on the shelves and the price at the checkout“, specifies the cabinet of Olivia Grégoire. Implemented in the middle of summer, this new measure thus makes it possible to “allow time to adopt these new reflexes before the start of the school year».
What are the alternatives for customers?
Rather than printing the ticket, merchants will be able to offer alternatives. It can be sent by SMS, by summary email, by “message in buyer’s banking app» or on the internet, via a QR Code. Bercy insists however on the fact that these devices are in no way compulsory: if a baker does not have the technical means to provide proof other than paper, then the customer who wishes to obtain one will not have another. choice but to take it as it is. “If he asks for his ticket, the consumer must be able to benefit from it, without having to communicate his email address, his telephone number or to be in possession of a smartphone.», affirms the DGCCRF, stressing that the important thing is to «leave the power of choice to the consumer».
What about the customer’s personal data?
Last March, the National Commission for Computing and Liberties (CNIL) had already called on the authorities, recalling “rules to follow and best practicesin terms of data protection. If the merchant offers dematerialized sending of the ticket, the Cnil recommends favoring solutions “which require the least amount of personal data to be collected», while respecting the GDPR and the Data Protection Act. “Prospecting is only possible in compliance with certain rules“, in particular the obligation for the merchant to “collect the consent peopleApproached, underlines the authority.
Fears shared by the Confederation of French Traders (CDF). “We really want to alert to the fact that by giving a telephone number and/or email address, there is a risk that this personal data will be kept by the merchant.“, alerts Laure Brunet-Ruinart, the general delegate of the confederation, who underlines that in absence “collection of consent“, this one has “no right to keep this data“. With the risk for the professional of finding himself in “a legally contentious situation” according to her. “They are advised to avoid dematerialization, because today there are too few solutions that are in the nails“, adds the representative.
What are the limits of measurement?
First, some wonder about the usefulness, from an ecological point of view, of replacing paper with emails. On this subject, Bercy concedes that “no studies have been done on this yet.“, but implies that it could not be worse than the ecological impact of the tickets “difficult to recycle» and containing «chemical substances“. For its part, the UFC-Que Choisir is suspicious: “We are far from being in favor of the electronic sending of the receipt, often accompanied by advertisements or images which contribute to the weight of the emailconfirms Antoine Autier, head of studies for the organization.
Then, on the consumer side, some are worried about the announced end of tickets, a real “budget management tool for consumers“, which allows “verify the accuracy of the transaction amount“, all the more “in a context of inflation“. To remedy this, Antoine Autier believes that the seller should ask the question verbally, to be certain that the consumer makes the informed choice and in full awareness not to take the ticket, rather than the latter being obliged to do so. Requirement. But the law provides the opposite.
Finally, there remains the subject of refund requests, while the ticket is still requested in many places to change or return a purchase. Asked about this point, Olivia Grégoire’s office replied that “If in doubt» or «for a product that we are not sure is the right size», the consumer must «systematically ask for the ticket“. The risk is all the greater for the consumer customer in the event of forgetfulness, nothing is provided to protect him. “It’s a real problemdeplores Antoine Autier. We can see that there is a problem, how to bring back a food product whose DLC would be exceeded if we do not have proof of purchasehe wonders.
Francis Palombi even sees in it the “angle mort» of the measure: «How does it work for these products that we are likely to want to exchange? Today, this is not one of the exceptions“, deplores the president of the Confederation of traders of France. “This is one of the points on which we wish to alert the cabinet of Olivia Grégoire. We must wake up the State on the subject“says the man who represents more than 450,000 food and non-food retail businesses throughout the country.
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