The head of Poland’s central bank, Adam Glapiński, has appealed to the government to ensure that consumers have a legally guaranteed right to pay by cash. Under the bank’s proposal, sellers would be barred from refusing to accept such payments as well as from charging more for them.
The finance ministry is currently preparing amendments to the law on payment services. Among the opinions submitted during public consultations was one from Glapiński, president of the National Bank of Poland (NBP).
He noted that the NBP had repeatedly called for the government to introduce legislation “guaranteeing the universal acceptability of Polish currency”. Glapiński therefore suggested that the bank’s proposal be included in the upcoming amendments, reports TVN24.
“The aim of the proposed regulation is to ensure general protection of consumers against a business’s refusal to accept cash payments and thus the consumer’s inability to make purchases or use services,” wrote the central bank chief.
He warned that a lack of such protection “may lead to the exclusion of certain social groups…above all the elderly and people with disabilities…from participation in economic transactions, and also from the possibility of satisfying basic needs [such as] food and medicine”.
Under the bank’s proposal, “customers would be granted…the right to freely choose the payment method convenient for them”. Sellers would also be barred from charging additional fees for accepting cash. Exemptions would be made for sales made online, at unstaffed places of business, and at mass events.
The current state of the law on whether sellers can refuse cash payments is unclear, notes Interia Biznes.
Although the Act on the National Bank of Poland indicates that they have no right to do so, many Polish businesses accept payment by card only, and their number has increased during the pandemic. Last April, the NBP raised concern at such “unlawful” practices, which create “enormous difficulties for people who do not have a payment account”.
However, according to Bartosz Czupajło, a lawyer, if businesses clearly advertise in advance to customers that they only accept card payments then they “are not acting unlawfully” due to the “principle of freedom of contract resulting from the civil code”.
Another law firm, SGP Siwek Gaczyński & Partners, has come to the same conclusion, reports Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. It last year asked the NBP for clarification of the issue.
Earlier this year, Glapiński announced his aim for the central bank to introduce a 1,000 zloty (€220) banknote, which would be worth twice as much as its current highest-valued note.
He argued that the new note would would make it easier for the NBP to store its cash reserves as well as for people to “hide banknotes in their underwear drawer” at home.
Such a move would buck an international trend for countries to withdraw high-denomination notes due to concerns that they make it easier for criminals to move money around.
Main image credit: Narodowy Bank Polski/Flickr (under CC BY-ND 2.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
