Restaurant vouchers: the daily ceiling goes from 19 to 25 euros on October 1

Europe 1 with AFP 10:27 a.m., September 30, 2022

The daily ceiling for restaurant vouchers increases from 19 to 25 euros from October 1, as announced at the end of July by the government, a measure demanded by many deputies in the context of the parliamentary debate on purchasing power.

Published Friday in the Official Journal, a decree thus modifies "the terms of use of restaurant vouchers to promote their use, with the increase of the daily ceiling from nineteen euros to twenty-five euros per day".

700,000 lunch vouchers are used by 4 million employees

At the end of the first confinement in 2020, the ceiling for the use of these means of payment had been doubled, going from 19 to 38 euros and its conditions of use had been relaxed - they were accepted even on weekends and days. holidays- to support the activity of restaurants hard hit by restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On July 1, this daily usage limit was reduced to 19 euros and they were no longer usable on weekends and public holidays.

Restaurant vouchers, distributed by companies to their employees, are often used by the latter to do their food shopping, expenses which have increased in recent months due to inflation.

Some 700,000 lunch vouchers are used by 4 million employees in 200,000 approved restaurants or bakeries, which represents 6 billion euros per year.

Four major historical players, Edenred (Ticket Restaurant), Groupe Up (Chèque Déjeuner), Sodexo (Pass Restaurant, formerly Chèque Restaurant) and Natixis (Apetiz, formerly Chèque de Table) share this market.

But young companies have appeared in recent years such as Swile, which has experienced ultra-rapid growth with its dematerialized restaurant vouchers in a smart card or a smartphone application.