Price rounding in Belgian shops from 1 December

Shops across Belgium will apply price-rounding to the nearest five cents whenever a customer pays in cash from next month.

The new rules, which have been optional since 2014, will be applied automatically from 1 December. Retailers can choose whether to apply the same measures to electronic payments as well.

For example, €2.91 and €2.92 are rounded down to €2.90, while €2.93 and €2.94 are rounded up to €2.95.

The rounding is only applied to the total amount of the bill and must be clearly shown on the till receipt. Retailers cannot round the price of each individual item.

The price rounding aims to limit the use of one- and two-cent coins, but these will still be legal tender and a shop cannot refuse these small coins if you offer them as payment.

The rule only applies to sales where the customer is physically present - so online purchases are not included. It does not apply to private sales of items between individuals, or business-to-business transactions.