Reduction of payment terms in commercial transactions: the Productive Activities commission of the Chamber has finalized and adopted the basic text which unifies various proposals. Seven articles referring to business-to-business transactions.
It is established that the creditor is entitled to legal interest on arrears or to interest at a rate agreed between the companies concerned, without the need for a reminder, if the same creditor has fulfilled its contractual and legal obligations, has not received the amount due or the late payment is attributable to the debtor. The obligee is entitled to default interest from the day following the due date or the end of the payment period established in the contract.
The payment period established in the contract cannot exceed sixty calendar days, unless expressly agreed otherwise in the contract and provided that this is not grossly unfair to the obligee. However, this does not affect the right of the parties to agree, without prejudice to the provisions of the law in force, payment terms that provide for payment in instalments. In such cases, if one of the installments is not paid on the agreed date, the envisaged interest and compensation are calculated exclusively on the basis of the overdue amounts.
In the event of late payment, the creditor company can ask the chamber of commerce for certification of the credit towards another company, in order to obtain an order for payment. The debtor company that intends to oppose the order for payment before filing an opposition before the judge must promote the mediation procedure with the chamber of commerce that issued the certificate. Obviously there are penalties for those who produce false or counterfeit documents.
