A law was already passed in 2017 for this purpose. That law prohibits large companies from agreeing longer payment terms than 60 days with its SME suppliers. Research shows that this worked well, but since the start of the corona pandemic, the average payment period of large companies has risen again. It now stands at around 41.5 days on average. This prompted SME interest groups to raise the political alarm again. And with success. The amended bill, reducing the maximum contractual payment term to 30 days, was passed by the second chamber on 15 March this year with a large majority. Only two small right-wing parties voted against it. Two weeks later, the Senate dismissed the proposal as a hammer piece. The law entered into force on 1 July 2022.
Hotline
This legally prohibits large companies from agreeing payment arrangements longer than 30 days. Should a large customer still try this, you can point out the law to him, but of course also to the role model function that a large company now has. In the unlikely event this does not work, the ACM has opened a hotline where violations of this law can be reported anonymously. Do so before 26-1-2023, however, as the hotline will be closed after that.
For the sake of clarity, here is a definition of a large company. It must meet minimum 2 of the following requirements:
- Balance sheet total more than €20 million;
- Net turnover more than €40 m/m
- More than 250 employees
For convenience, we say that a company that does not comply with this is an SME.
