By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

“We would like to inform you that due to workload the scheduled appointment that was scheduled for April 23 has been moved to April…”

It’s just one of hundreds of e-mails with which the technical companies that have taken over the interface of POS – cash registers inform their anxious customers that they are moving their scheduled appointments to …indefinitely within April. And in this way they are held in a peculiar hostage while the sand in the hourglass is “saved” as April 30 is the last day of “compliance”.

Some of these e-mails also reached from entrepreneurs who are now worried about whether they will meet the deadlines while they bear no responsibility. This one, like all the other “hostages”, has done what he had to do. He got his POS on time, upgraded his cash register on time and booked his appointment on time. And they anxiously ask what will happen if the technician, after arbitrarily rescheduling the appointment, arbitrarily does not appear “by April”. Are they then at risk of a €10,000 fine?

The Ministry of Finance is reassuring. These entrepreneurs have nothing to fear. Their appointments are registered in the AADE register, so they are not at any risk, they assure. With his statement yesterday, the head of AADE George Pitsilis he also wanted to entertain any concerns by stressing to ERT that the Authority has the experience to judge who is responsible and who is not.

However, an extension will not be given, as the leadership of the Ministry of Finance makes clear in all tones. And it is not going to be given out of respect to only the 94-95% of businesses – which includes the sender of this particular email – who have either already completed the interface or have an appointment scheduled. Deputy Minister Haris Theocharis has already given an order to have in his office on April 30 all the details on the methodology and the schedule of the controls that will start from May.

The obvious is that they will start with the strongest financially which had the most means to comply and the weaker ones will follow.

On a personal note, I find it infuriating that he who has done everything possible is worried about the fine and the 25,000 or some of them, who have done nothing not even responding to AADE’s repeated notices to do the right thing. However, the first fines have already “fell” on 30 companies with a turnover of more than 1 million euros. AADE has also made more than 9,500 calls reminding entrepreneurs that the deadline is running out.

In a peculiar hostage situation there are many businesses that are unable to procure a POS because they are on the Teiresias list. And for them anyway, the Ministry of Finance is in direct contact with the Payment Service Providers (acquirers) in order to find a solution through some guarantees to stop their exclusion from the banks. One such could be e.g. the delay in the return of money to the entrepreneur. However, the official announcements are expected to be made by Mr. Theocharis immediately after Easter.