Minister responds to cash acceptance obligation

The House of Representatives wants to introduce an acceptance obligation for cash. Minister Heijnen has responded to the proposal and also indicated which exceptions are needed if the amendment is also accepted by the Senate.

Acceptance obligation

The House of Representatives wants to introduce the acceptance obligation for cash because in more and more places only digital payment is possible, while not everyone wants this or has the possibility to pay digitally. In this, the government is given the possibility to record exceptional situations if this is necessary for reasons of feasibility or safety.

Minister's response

Minister Heijnen points out in a response that the ECB is required to be consulted on the proposal. He also points out that administrative monetary debts do not fall under the acceptance obligation, but that he is in favor of the government also being able to pay in cash as much as possible, for example for the purchase of a passport.

Exceptions

As for possible exceptions to the acceptance obligation, the minister is thinking of periodic payments for energy or insurance, for example. On the other hand, the minister does not consider the lower costs, speed, efficiency and the lower risk of theft by staff to be valid reasons for making an exception.

Safety requires further investigation

Refusing cash for security reasons will have to be investigated further, according to Heijnen. In the case of a high risk of robberies, he considers a refusal to accept cash acceptable, but it is undesirable if this aspect can be invoked by everyone as an argument for an exceptional situation.

Further consultation

The Minister announces further consultations, in which business and consumer organisations will be involved. He will also include the financial consequences of the acceptance obligation.