Estonia looking to cut down on paper receipts
The Ministry of Economic Affairs aims to make the issuance of purchase receipts and invoices more environmentally friendly, which means that by 2025, in most cases, digital receipts will replace paper ones.
The draft bill aims to amend consumer protection laws regulating the issuance of purchase receipts and invoices under long-term contracts, with the goal of reducing the number of unnecessary printed receipts and mailed paper invoices.
Currently, the law requires merchants to issue a receipt if the purchase amount exceeds €20. Under the proposed changes, this requirement would be eliminated.
According to the ministry, this will have a positive impact on the environment: the broader aim of the draft is to reduce merchants' environmental footprint and to encourage consumers to forgo paper receipts and invoices.
The ministry has also considered the needs and preferences of consumers who require greater protection, primarily older individuals, who may still wish to receive paper receipts and/or monthly paper invoices even after the changes take effect.
The explanatory memorandum of the draft bill notes that the regulations on receipts and paper invoices were last amended in 2015, and there is now a need for further changes.
"With technological advancements, consumer behavior is changing, and many merchants are also considering their environmental footprint. Additionally, the development of information society has enabled merchants to issue invoices in ways that were not available or widely used in 2015. For instance, invoices can now be sent as SMS notifications to consumers' mobile phones, or receipts can be stored in a specific merchant's mobile app," the authors of the draft wrote.
The current law will be amended to require merchants to issue a paper receipt only if the consumer pays in cash and does not use a loyalty card, or if they use a loyalty card that does not allow the consumer's purchase history to be retained for two years.
Furthermore, the obligation to issue a receipt will remain if the consumer requests a paper receipt at the time of purchase. Therefore, while the changes mean merchants will no longer be required to issue a receipt by default, consumers will still be able to request a paper receipt at the time of purchase, and merchants must provide it either in paper form or digitally with the consumer's consent.
If adopted, the changes would take effect on July 1 of next year.
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Editor: Mari Peegel, Marcus Turovski
