Meal vouchers will not automatically lead to higher product prices, said Tanya Obusharova, secretary general of the Association of Meal Voucher Operators in Bulgaria. According to her, it is „economically untenable“ to claim that meal vouchers themselves are the reason for higher prices.
The dispute arose after the decision that, from 2027, employers will be able to provide meal vouchers worth up to 200 euros. A 7% tax will be levied on the amount exceeding 102 euros.
Different assessments of the impact on prices
Nikolay Valkanov of the Association for Modern Trade and financial journalist Stefan Antonov pointed out that banks impose higher fees on meal voucher operators. According to them, operators pass the costs on to retailers, which could increase food prices by up to 3%.
Obusharova does not share this assessment. She said that meal vouchers do not account for a large enough share to have a real impact on the market as a whole. In addition, vouchers are used within a closed network of shops, which is why, in her view, comparing them with payments made by bank cards is not accurate.
What the sector inspection shows
Obusharova recalled that the Commission for Protection of Competition conducted an investigation into the sector in 2025. According to her, no imbalances were identified during the inspection. She added that the CPC concluded that retailers’ costs had decreased following the digitalisation of meal vouchers.
According to Obusharova, meal vouchers are excluded from the European regulation governing bank fees. Thus, the dispute over their future impact on prices remains primarily linked to the level of fees between banks, operators and retailers, as well as to the way these costs are distributed along the chain.