Payment times between private companies are lengthening, while payment delays by the Public Administration are significantly improving. These are the main indications contained in the monitoring of Assifact, an association that brings together Italian factoring operators, according to which progress in late payments has been modest, after the 2011 European Directive on the matter.
The monitoring of Assifact, which is carried out every six months, is qualitative in nature and therefore collects and compares the perceptions of the associates.
As for the times of payment between companies, the perception is of a worsening compared to the previous survey, even if the opinion on the effective collection of interest on late payments has clearly improved. On the other hand, the assessment of the effectiveness of the measures on the reimbursement of recovery costs and compensation for damages remains negative.
For the Public Administration the evaluation is positive on the effectiveness of the Directive in reducing payment delays, just as there is a marked reduction in the perception of the existence of legal impediments to payment by the public administrations of supply debts.
According to the European Commission, implementation of the legislation is proceeding slowly across Europe, with slight improvements in average payment times, both in the public and private sectors. In more than half of the Member States it appears that public bodies have not yet started meeting the 30-day deadline imposed by law, while in the private sector around half of creditors refuse to charge default interest for fear of damaging business relationships .
