Less use of one- and two-cent coins

The federal government has reached an agreement on the principle of allowing retailers to round prices up or down to the nearest five cents. The new measure will allow shopkeepers to avoid dealing with one- and two-cent coins. The coins will continue in circulation, but their use will be much reduced as a result of the measure.

The new rule allows – though does not require – retailers to round up prices that end in 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents; amounts ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 must be rounded down. The change applies only to cash purchases; payments with a bank card will remain the same. The rounding off will apply to the final total, not for each individual item, and a general exception is made for medications, for which the price charged will be exactly that shown on the packaging.

The regulation will solve two problems: Shopkeepers who are forced to carry large quantities of one- and two-cent coins to and from the bank, and consumers who mostly empty pockets and purses of the coins at home, effectively removing them from circulation.

The French-speaking socialists (PS) oppose the measure for fear taht rounding up will lead to an overall increase in prices as retailers will change prices to avoid being forced to round down. This has not proved to be the case in the Netherlands, where the measure was introduced in 2010.

The retail industry welcomed the decision on the whole but regretted the difference between electronic and cash payments, which Comeos, the retail industry federation, said would disadvantage retailers not equipped to accept electronic payments. Finance minister Koen Geens said the measure would be evaluated after two years.

Photo: Ingimage