The Greek government is proposing a new wave of fines for any businesses found to be in violation of rules related to the use of POS machines and their integration with cash registers.
According to an article at OT, the amendment will be put to a vote in the coming days and its purpose is to add additional pressure on companies to speed up their implementation of the law on POS machines.
Fines will start at 200,o00 euros and may reach as high as 300,000 euros, for companies that do not comply by February 29, 2024.
In detail, businesses are supposed to upgrade the systems running their cash registers so they are integrated with POS machines, which are also mandated to be used by virtually all businesses, by February 29.
In practical terms, this means that cash registers must update their operating systems and cashiers should no longer manually enter payments into POS machines, but rather the amount should be retrieved automatically from the cash register.
At the first offense, a fine of 200,000 euros will be levied, which will be increased 300,000 euros if the same company is found to still be in violation 5 years later.
Companies that have not upgraded the operating system of their terminals will be subject to a fine of 100,000 euros, as well as an additional 500 euros per terminal.
Freelancers will face a fine of 10,000-20,000 euros, but this amount will be halved for those living in areas with a population of less than 500 persons or on islands with under 3,100 residents.
From the side of cash register providers themselves, companies are expected to facilitate business owners with the necessary upgrades. Companies that do not facilitate the implementation of the law will also be punished through a 10,000 euro fine and the cash register model in question will lose its permit of operation in Greece.
The OT report notes that there are currently 35 POS providers and that while many have complied with upgrades, there are also substantial delays which put the government’s deadline of February 29 at risk.
