Payment by card mandatory in Romania for companies exceeding EUR 50,000 in turnover

Sorin Melenciuc 18/07/2018 | 16:47

Payment by card will be required in Romania for stores with a turnover of more than EUR 50,000, including for service providers and wholesalers, which is five times more than the current threshold, after a new law was promulgated by the president Klaus Iohannis and published in the Official Gazette.

The obligation to accept payments by card has been extended as a final decision also to wholesalers or service providers such as restaurants or hotels.

The draft law was approved by the Romanian Parliament in June.

The cashback law, which came into force early last year, compelled firms dealing with retail, which achieved an annual turnover of more than EUR 10,000 in RON equivalent, to accept debit and credit cards as a means of payment.

A law initiated last year by the majority of the government proposed the increase of the turnover threshold to EUR 50,000 and reducing from RON 200 to RON 100 the advance that the traders can release to the customers at the payment terminals.

The Senate established, however, one year ago, that payment by card will remain compulsory in stores with a turnover of over EUR 10,000 in RON equivalent, without reducing the maximum payment to RON 100, but extended the obligation to companies engaged in wholesale trade or provision of services.

The Senators took this decision after the Government intervened and notified the Parliament last year that payment by card for companies with a turnover of more than EUR 10,000 was introduced to limit evasion, the measure being inspired by a recommendation from the Central European Bank, which limits cash payments for commercial transactions.

After the vote in the Senate, the draft was sent for debate to the Chamber of Deputies, where in two advisory commissions the draft was again amended to increase, from EUR 10,000 to EUR 50,000 the annual turnover threshold over which traders are compelled to accept payment by card.

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