This measure taken in the name of ecology with the aim of reducing the production of waste, also concerns bank card receipts and vouchers. Originally scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2023, it was again postponed to 1 April.

But citing the inflationary context, the government had once again postponed the deadline at the end of March, without immediately advancing a new date. It will finally be August 1, according to a decree published Saturday in the Official Journal.

Last Sunday, the cabinet of Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate for Trade, had assured that the new postponement did not "at all question the merits of this measure of common sense" but was a "pragmatic" decision, adapted to the inflationary "context".

"When you have inflation at 15% on the shelves, that the receipt is a landmark for many French, it seemed important to us to keep this benchmark" the time to "pass the inflationary peak," he said.

The end of the systematic printing of receipts at the end of a commercial transaction - unless explicitly requested by the customer - stems from the "anti-waste and circular economy" law, voted in 2020.

The measure aims to reduce the production of waste, while nearly 30 billion tickets are printed each year in France.

But faced with the waltz of prices, especially on food products in supermarkets, many consumers continue to frequently consult their receipt to check the details of their shopping.

"Not practical"

"It saves money, it's good for the planet, I know... But for my accounts, looking all the time on the internet, it's not practical, "said Jean-Claude Glissant, a forty-year-old interviewed recently by AFP at the exit of the E.Leclerc hypermarket in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis.

Lucia Freixeda, 62 years old and not yet retired, showed her own receipt. "There's a mistake there, you see? On the terminal inside the store, it was marked 1.99 euros, and there it is 2.99 euros, "she explained. When tickets are no longer automatically offered by shops, she will "ask for them anyway".

In Toulouse, in a central district, the idea of receiving his ticket electronically made Ahmed Sessi, 74, smile, who felt he was "too old to understand how it works".

According to Perifem, an association that brings together distribution players around energy or environmental issues, the French are "still more than half to say they want to ask for a ticket in paper format".

Its general delegate, Franck Charton, had welcomed last Sunday the new postponement "so that the brands organize themselves to offer alternative dematerialized solutions".

On 10 March, the CNIL commission, the commission guaranteeing digital freedoms, published its recommendations for the respect of consumer privacy, evoking solutions to obtain a receipt without disclosing personal details, such as the QR Code.

Consumer associations such as UFC-Que Choisir and Rural Families have also expressed many reservations about the announced abolition of the receipt.

According to the text of the decree, tickets showing a cancelled banking transaction, subject to a pre-authorization regime or subject to a credit will always have to be printed automatically. Also not concerned are tickets mentioning the duration of a legal guarantee.

© 2023 AFP