The Estonian Ministry of Economy plans to replace most paper receipts with digital ones by 2025 to make them more environmentally friendly by introducing a draft law to amend the consumer protection law on issuing receipts and invoices to reduce the number of unnecessary printed receipts and paper invoices sent by post by encouraging digital alternatives, on Monday, the 5th of August, reports Estonian media ERR.
Currently, the law requires merchants to issue a receipt if the purchase exceeds 20 euros. Under the proposed changes, this requirement would be removed.
The ministry believes this will have a positive environmental impact: the broader aim of the project is
to reduce the environmental impact of merchants and encourage consumers to move away from paper receipts and invoices.
The explanatory memorandum to the draft law highlights that the rules on receipts and invoices, which were last updated in 2015, need to be reviewed in the light of technological developments and changes in consumer behaviour.
It points out that merchants are now taking into consideration their environmental impact and can issue invoices via SMS or store receipts on mobile apps – options that were not widely available in 2015.
The updated law will require merchants to issue paper receipts only for cash payments and if no loyalty card is used, or if a loyalty card is used that does not allow the consumer’s purchase history to be kept for two years.
Although merchants will no longer be obliged to issue receipts as a default, consumers will still be able to request a paper receipt at the time of purchase and merchants will have to issue it either in paper form or digitally with the consumer’s consent.
If adopted, the changes will enter into force on the 1st of July next year.