Spotlights - December 2014
Rounding off the amount due in consumer purchases
As of 1 October 2014, enterprises and professionals can round off the amount due by a customer to the
nearest multiple of 5 cents, provided that certain conditions are met.
Enterprises and professionals can now round off the total amount due by a customer to the nearest multiple of 5 cents. The
legislator aims to discourage the use of 1 and 2 euro cent coins. According to several Eurobarometer polls conducted by the
European Commission, Belgian consumers are dissatisfied with these coins. This also would decrease the costs of the
issuing institutions – as fewer coins will need to be produced – and would shorten the queues at cash desks.
Enterprises and professionals are free to opt for rounding off. If the practice is adopted, it must be applied to all cash
payments made by the consumer and all repayments to the consumer.
Rounding off can only be done when the total amount is paid in cash. Payment of the total amount must be made by
handing over paper currency and/or coins. Payment instruments similar to paper currency or coins, such as luncheon
vouchers, eco vouchers, and sport and culture vouchers, can also be used. When the consumer pays (part of the amount)
electronically – e.g. partly with luncheon vouchers and partly with a bank card – the rounding off cannot take place. Using a
bank card allows the amount to be paid accurately to the nearest cent without using 1 and 2 euro cent coins.
The possibility of rounding off only applies to the total amount, and thus not to each individual item purchased. The total
amount must exceed 5 euro cents.
Rounding off is not permitted with cash payments relating to medicines for human use within the meaning of article 1, 1),
a) of the Medicines Act. The legislator considered rounding off inopportune in this case, since, for reasons of public interest,
the prices of medicines must be determined by the manufacturer and announced to the Federal Agency of Economy, which
monitors the prices.
The rounding off must be performed as follows:
When the total amount ends in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents, it is rounded off to the nearest lower multiple of 5 cents;
when the total amount ends in 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents, it is rounded off to the nearest higher multiple of 5 cent.
Any document mentioning the total amount that has to be paid must specifically mention the rounding off that has been
applied.
Finally, the consumer must be informed in a clearly visible way that the enterprise or professional is applying the rounding
off system. According to article 2 of the Royal Decree of 22 September 2014 (Official Gazette 25 September 2014), this
condition is met by displaying in a clearly visible way a pictogram which corresponds totally (as regards form, drawing and
colours) to a model which can be downloaded from the site of the Federal Agency of Economy and looks like this:
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Maarten De Man
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