Belarusian online stores will be required to have bank payment terminals from July 1

As Deputy Minister of Trade Irina Narkevich explained during an online conference, there must be two consumer protection mechanisms: a receipt for cash payments, and for non-cash payments – a terminal, as a trace also remains in the electronic wallet. However, these are not the only requirements for equipping facilities with payment terminals.

The press center of the Ministry of Taxes and Levies Inspectorate for the Vitebsk region recalled that terminals must be mandatory in pavilions, kiosks, sanatoriums, rest homes (bases), health centers (complexes), in taxi vehicles, diagnostic stations performing technical inspection of vehicles, as well as at railway station ticket offices serving more than 250 passengers per day and having communication lines. In addition, all retail and catering facilities located in capital buildings must accept plastic cards for payment.

Since January 1 of the current year, facilities where the revenue generated in 2013 exceeded 7,500 base units (BU) are subject to equipping with payment terminals; for organizations of the consumer cooperative system – over 15,000 BU; for public utility services – over 3,750 BU.

For facilities from the mandatory list where payment terminals are not installed, regardless of the amount of revenue generated, special deadlines are provided for their installation: in cities of regional subordination and Minsk – from July 1, 2015; in cities of district subordination – from January 1, 2016; throughout the Republic of Belarus – from July 1, 2017. In this case, the number of payment terminals at the facility must correspond to the number of cash registers.

Thus, from July 1, all legal entities and individual entrepreneurs are obliged to install payment terminals that ensure, among other things, the acceptance of bank payment cards of international payment systems "Visa" and "MasterCard", of the domestic payment system "Belkart", issued by domestic banks, in facilities located in cities of regional subordination and Minsk.

Meanwhile, on June 2, 2015, the Ministry of Trade appealed to the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus with an initiative to extend the deadline for the mandatory installation of payment terminals in the capital and cities of regional subordination until January 1, 2016. Due to the fact that Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 143 of March 30, 2015 extended until January 1 of the next year the deadline for the sale of goods remaining, imported by individual entrepreneurs – payers of a single tax before July 1, 2014 to the territory of Belarus from the territory of the Customs Union member states without accompanying documents, the Ministry of Trade considers it possible to support small businesses in terms of extending the deadline for the mandatory installation of payment terminals. The corresponding initiative is also supported by the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus.

Elena Petrova, "Vitebskiye Vesti"