Cigarettes can no longer be paid for by card, POS requirement abolished

A Genoa justice of the peace has ruled in a ruling that tobacconists are not required to accept credit or debit card payments for cigarettes and other products subject to state monopoly. The reason is that retailers' profit margins on these types of products are very low and the price cannot be adjusted.

Consequently, according to the judge, the payment fee significantly erodes this sum, and therefore refusing payment by credit or debit card is legitimate in this case. The ruling reopens the issue of the mandatory nature of the POS terminal , which the Meloni government has already attempted to loosen, without success.

No POS for cigarettes

The case that led to the ruling dates back to 2024. A tobacconist refused to allow a customer to pay for a pack of cigarettes by card. The customer called the Guardia di Finanza , who issued a report against the retailer, which was appealed unsuccessfully before the Prefect of Genoa.

At this point, the tobacconist appealed to the Justice of the Peace, who decided to rule in his favor. The report was annulled, as was the fine he had to pay for refusing to accept payment by POS . The reason for the ruling lies in a 2010 law, amended in 2017, which prohibits inflating the price of goods if the buyer pays electronically.

The tobacconist, as stated in the sentence:

Authorized by the State monopoly, it acts in the exclusive interest of the beneficiary of the payment, to whom it passes on the entire price of the Monopoly products, having the right only to a percentage.

The operator therefore finds himself unable to increase revenue and, being subject to a state monopoly, unable to reduce expenses either.

There is no need for the Constitutional Court

It is precisely this circumstance that, according to the ruling, violates the right to entrepreneurial activity established by the Constitution. Although there is a reference to the Constitutional Charter, however, it is not necessary to refer to the Constitutional Court in a case involving only the Justice of the Peace.

The ruling is therefore immediately effective and sets a very important precedent regarding the sale of state monopolies. It also reopens the debate on the mandatory nature of the POS, which the Meloni government had already attempted to abolish.

The Meloni Government and the POS obligation

Technically, the requirement to allow electronic payments has been in force in Italy since 2014. At the time, however, there were no penalties for enforcing this requirement, and as a result, despite the widespread use of these tools, enforcement of the rule was very sporadic. It was only in 2022 that a penalty was introduced for merchants who did not allow card payments.

Among the Meloni government's first measures in 2022 was an attempt to remove the requirement for a POS terminal for payments under €60 . The rule was harshly criticized by the European Union, which argued it would increase tax evasion . The law was never approved, and the government has not attempted to reintroduce it since.