Restaurant vouchers no longer pay for packets of pasta

“The rules have changed. You can only pay for certain products from now on with your meal vouchers. » At the supermarket checkout, customers discover the new regulations. Since the January 1, 2025alone certain food products are purchasable with the titres-restaurant distributed in certain companies.

Rules still subject to change

We apply what the government dictates to us even if it is not always very clear. We are back to pre-Covid rule for now. Today, only what is instantly consumable can be paid for with meal vouchers.

A change which took place systematically at the checkouts of the Intermarché in Quettehou (Manche). “It’s the group that takes care of that. When the list of products shrinks, the new parameters are entered directly into the cash register software to comply with the law,” explains the store.

A weight in hand for the manager. Especially since tomorrow, the rules could change again. Discussions around the subject are far from over.

Political instability involved

Last November, the National Assembly adopted the extension of the exemption which allows consumers to use their restaurant vouchers for all food products until 2026.

“People are asking to maintain this system. For them, it means more purchasing power. », explains Leclerc Querqueville. But Michel Barnier’s government was overthrown on December 4. The Senate was then unable to vote for or against the extension of this measure.

Since January 1, 2025, meal vouchers must therefore only be used up to 25 euros for instantly consumable products, as was the case before the adoption of the exemption. A rule recalled on the website of the national commission for meal vouchers.

We have, once again, configured our computer system to comply with the law.

But there are some vaguenesses…

Another change?

On Wednesday January 15, the Senate will examine the bill aimed at extending the exemption for the use of meal vouchers for all food products. The text aims for an extension until the end of 2025, when the deputies voted, in November, an extension until the end of 2026.

Thus, if the text is voted on as is, it will have to go back to parliamentarians again. Its promulgation will then be postponed again, and the rule in supermarkets will remain the use of tickets only for immediately consumable products.

This news was received rather favorably by restaurateurs, unlike consumers.

Originally, restaurant vouchers are an aid for restaurateurs, so obviously we hope to recover the shortfall that we have suffered for three years.

According to him, for 3 years, only “16% of restaurant vouchers now go back into the pockets of restaurateurs. Millions are going into the coffers of mass retailers! »

The Umih therefore initiated discussions on the subject. But here again, political instability complicates the debate. “We are waiting for the outcome of the meeting on the subject,” concludes Dominique Eudes.

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