The Seimas gave the green light to price rounding: 1 and 2 cents will not remain in wallets | Business

65 parliamentarians approved the bill on the rounding of cash payments, 20 voted against, and 31 abstained.

After the adoption of the Law on the Rounding of Amounts in Cash Payments, the new procedure will enter into force from May 2025 – that’s when the installation of smart cash registers in shopping centers must be completed.

The final purchase amount is expected to be rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5 cents for cash only: an amount ending in 1 or 2, as well as 6 or 7 cents, would be rounded down to 0 or 5 cents, and if ending in 3 or 4 in cents or 8 and 9 cents – on the larger side to 5 or 10 cents.

The coins will not be withdrawn from circulation, and it will continue to be possible to pay with them.

Rounding would not be used for non-cash payments, currency exchange, cash transfers, cash deposits and withdrawals.

Violations of the rounding procedure are subject to warnings or fines of 100-500 euros, for companies – 200-1 thousand. EUR fines. They would be doubled for repeat violations.

One of the main reasons for moving away from the smallest denomination pennies is that they cost more to mint than they are worth.

According to the Bank of Lithuania, more than 2 mln. euro value We lose 1 and 2 euro cent coins in Lithuania. About a third of a million euros is lost every year.

The majority of 1 and 2 euro cent coins are used for payments only once – even two thirds of the 1 and 2 euro cent coins put into circulation are not returned to the Bank of Lithuania (only one third of other coins are not returned).

In six countries of the European Union, in order to abandon one and two cent coins, the final amount of goods is already rounded. Estonia also intends to introduce rounding of small cents from 2025.