Motor insurance, the government accelerates the reform: times halved for the implementing decrees in the Competition Bill

The government is cutting the timescales for the reform of the car insurance sector, with the clear aim of closing the dossier by the end of the legislature, even in the event of early elections in the spring.

The acceleration emerges from the final version of the annual competition law bill, where the limit for exercising the delegation through implementing decrees has been restricted: no longer nine, but four months from the entry into force of the law. It is one of the novelties of the text which, after a long wait to obtain the stamp of the State Accounting Office (which arrived two months after approval by the Council of Ministers), will soon be introduced in the Chamber, in the Productive Activities Committee.

In summary, the reorganization of motor insurance includes the revision of the bonus/malus system, the review of the flat rate for direct compensation and the strengthening of anti-fraud measures, among the various directive criteria. The enhancement of virtuous driving behavior is also envisaged, to reduce the loss of territorial variables, which today penalize some southern provinces in particular. The delegation has an extremely broad perimeter, which could include interventions with a popular impact in the midst of the electoral campaign.

The version of the bill that reaches Parliament then incorporates the rule which, amidst protests from accountants, also extends to employment consultants the possibility of filing financial statements with the Companies Registry (see Il Sole 24 Ore of 30 October). Furthermore, the three-year allocation foreseen for contributions intended for owners of fuel stations who convert the plants into stations dedicated to charging electric vehicles is increased by eight million, from 112 to 120 million. However, the law which, with the aim of reducing food waste, would have introduced the right to the so-called "doggy bag" in restaurants, i.e. the take-away of purchased and uneaten food, is missing from the text.

But attention, while awaiting the first parliamentary reading scheduled in the Chamber, is already focused on possible changes. Among the interventions that the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy would like to include in the Bill are the digital wallet (business wallet) for company practices, the coordination of ministries on the strategy for humanoid robotics and the correction requested by the EU Commission on measures to combat shrinkinflation, i.e. the commercial practice with which companies reduce the size, weight or quantity of a food product while maintaining the same selling price.