Authority concerned that Edenred may have shifted unjustified costs onto large-scale retail chains, with potential impacts on consumer prices.

The Italian Competition Authority has launched an investigation into Edenred Italia S.r.l. and its parent company Edenred SE over a possible abuse of a dominant position in the national market for the provision of meal vouchers to employees in place of canteen services, in breach of article 102 TFEU.

Following the introduction of a statutory cap on the reimbursement fees charged to affiliated businesses accepting meal vouchers, Edenred is thought to have implemented a complex strategy aimed at shifting entirely unjustified costs onto large-scale retail chains. In particular, Edenred seems to have unilaterally changed how electronic meal vouchers are accepted by discontinuing the direct integration between large-scale retail checkout systems and its own authorisation platforms. This appears to have been replaced by a requirement to use third-party interconnection systems, resulting in higher costs for large-scale retail chains. It seems Edenred also imposed other unfavourable conditions, such as longer voucher reimbursement periods.

Greater operational complexity and higher costs for large-scale retail chains may lead to higher prices for consumers and affect the proper functioning of the market.

The Authority’s officials, assisted by the Special Antitrust Unit of the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza), carried out inspections yesterday at the premises of Edenred Italia S.r.l. as well as at the premises of the other major meal voucher issuing companies and of some third-party interconnection system providers, deemed to hold documents relevant to the investigation.

Rome, 26 March 2026

Text of the decision