The validity of paper meal vouchers issued before October this year will not be extended, said representatives of meal voucher companies. Their validity will end at the end of the year. According to the companies, they should not remain unused more than in previous years. However, companies have increased or abolished limits on spending electronic meal vouchers.
“Our data show that unused meal vouchers are at a comparable level this year as in previous years. If the situation changes, we will of course respond adequately,” said Sodexo spokeswoman Tereza Knířová.
The company has increased the daily limit on the meal voucher card to CZK 2,000, according to which it is currently trying to run out of money on the cards.
The company Up Česká republika, which offers Chéque Déjeuner meal vouchers, then added that companies have the opportunity to return unused meal vouchers by the end of January. “Of course, it depends on the internal agreement between the employee and the employer whether and under what conditions the meal voucher user can return his meal vouchers to the employer,” added Stéphane Nicoletti, the company’s CEO.
According to him, it is now difficult to estimate how the approach to consumption and payment by meal vouchers will change during the general quarantine until the end of the year.
“Last year, about 0.28 percent of the total value of the issue of paper meal vouchers fell, and of this volume, the greater share was accounted for by meal vouchers, which were dropped by our contractual partners and not by end users,” he added. However, the company is considering the possibility of extending the validity of eStravenka electronic cards.
Forfeited meal vouchers for 150 million crowns
Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová (for YES) last year warned that meal vouchers worth approximately 150 million crowns will be forfeited annually. According to older statements of the Association of Voucher System Operators, the total market for meal vouchers may be around 25 billion crowns.
Edenred, which distributes Ticket Restaurant meal vouchers, does not plan to extend the validity of paper vouchers either.
“For electronic meal vouchers, which are used by 250,000 people – half of all our users – we are abolishing spending limits on December 1, so it will not be a problem to spend money by the end of the year. We took this step so that people have enough space to buy food for them. or paper. For paper meal vouchers, there was and is no daily limit on purchases, “concluded Daniela Pedret, head of communication at Edenred.
Meal vouchers issued before the end of September are valid until the end of the year, but often catering establishments do not want to take them around the end of this time. Meal vouchers issued from October are then valid for a year longer.
The Ministry of Finance said that it has no estimates of how many meal vouchers could be forfeited this year. “The time-limited validity of meal vouchers is not given by law. The possible extension of their validity depends entirely on the decision of the meal voucher companies and their business plans,” said Jakub Vintrlík from the office.
He also recalled an older survey by Median, according to which 23 percent of employees who receive meal vouchers see the problem in a limited period of time.
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