TIRANA, Feb. 10 – Albania’s Competition Authority has called on the government to liberalize the country’s cash register market where only a handful of companies operate by eliminating economic barriers on the entry of new operators. The recommendation came after an almost two-year monitoring into the market from Jan. 2014 to Sept. 2015 unveiled that market entry criteria of a turnover of more than 10 million euros in the past three years and a bank guarantee of $500,000 constitute economic barriers for the entry of new operators and should be revised.
Currently, only 5 operators are authorized to trade and maintain cash registers in Albania, with the small number of operators estimated to have negatively affected competition and the high cash register prices.
“The economic requirements for enterprises to enter and operate on the market constitute considerable entry barriers. The elimination of these barriers would increase competition among enterprises,” said the Authority.
The cash register market recorded a significant boost in the final quarter of 2015 when a nationwide campaign against informality forced thousands of previously informal businesses to buy and operate cash registers.
Cash register prices currently stand at €280 but traders also complain they face high maintenance costs. Data shows the number of new cash registers sold in the final quarter of 2015 after the launch of a nationwide campaign to fight widespread informality rose by six times or an extra 22,238 compared to the same period in 2014.
