Custom contest? The Competition Authority puts pressure on the Government on IVAucher

The Competition Authority (AdC) again put pressure on the Government in relation to the IVAucher program, created to promote consumption in Portugal. If in November it issued recommendations, so that this program would not remain exclusively in the hands of the SIBS, now the entity returns to position itself with two alerts sent to the Ministry of Finance. The fear remains the same.

After the recommendations left in November, the Government, through the Tax and Customs Authority, decided to launch an international public tender to obtain the services that allow the implementation of the IVAucher program (consumers who spend on accommodation, culture and restaurants can accumulate the value There the VAT is paid and then destined to new consumption in those same sectors).

However, the contest uses criteria that raise doubts for the entity chaired by Margarida Matos Rosa, that is, to positively assess the size of the network and the scope of the automatic payment terminals, as well as “the scope of the payment cards accepted ”. “Different interested parties will have indicated that the defined award criteria put them at a competitive disadvantage compared to the operator with a local payment system (SIBS)”, underlines the Competition Authority, asking for less restrictive criteria.

The Jornal de Negócios had already written that the selection criteria of the contest alienated payment companies that had shown interest in participating, such as Mastercard and Revolut. According to AdC, a company, Viva Payments Services, addressed a letter to João Leão and the Secretary of State for Tax Affairs, António Mendonça Mendes, on this issue. SIBS controls most of the terminal network in Portugal.

That is why this authority asks João Leão to “evaluate the impact of the award criteria focused on the number of POS / TPA and cards focused on a single scheme, in terms of their impact on competition, both in the process of bidding and in terms of opening the solution to contract ”.

Another warning that the AdC left is that, according to the terms of the contest, “there are no obligations to ensure the compatibility of the IVAucher program with the different payment systems.”

This problem poses problems for merchants, who may be forced to switch service providers from their automatic payment terminal. The AdC gives an example: “in a scenario where IVAucher’s operation is limited to the Multibanco network (or another), a merchant using the IVAucher program will have to make sure that his TPA accepts payments from Multibanco (or another network)” .

From the point of view of taxpayers, they can also only benefit from the discount provided by the program if they use payment cards compatible with the chosen system. “This can lead to a diversion of transactions from one payment system to another, since a relevant fraction of consumers may begin to favor the use of cards in the system that allows them to access the IVAucher program, to the detriment of others,” he warns . the AdC.

There is still no date for the start of the program, since the contest only ended on January 23.