Italy’s competition authority has launched an investigation into Edenred Italia and its parent company Edenred SE over a suspected abuse of dominant position in the national market for meal voucher services.
In a statement released on 26 March 2026, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) said the probe concerns the supply of services that allow employees to use meal vouchers as a substitute for workplace catering. The investigation is being conducted under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits abuses of dominant market positions.
According to the authority, Edenred may have implemented a strategy to shift unjustified costs onto large-scale retail operators following the introduction of regulatory limits on the commissions that voucher issuers can charge affiliated merchants for reimbursement.
The AGCM said the company allegedly imposed a unilateral reorganization of how electronic meal vouchers are accepted by retailers. This reportedly included removing the direct integration between supermarket checkout systems and Edenred’s authorization platforms, and requiring retailers to use indirect connection systems supplied by third-party providers. The authority believes this change may have increased operational costs for large retail chains.
The regulator also raised concerns about other contractual conditions allegedly introduced by the company, including longer reimbursement times for meal vouchers.
According to the authority, the increased operational complexity and additional costs for retailers could ultimately lead to higher prices for consumers and affect the proper functioning of the market.
As part of the investigation, AGCM officials, assisted by the special antitrust unit of Italy’s financial police (Guardia di Finanza), carried out inspections at the offices of Edenred Italia. The authority also conducted searches at the premises of other major meal voucher issuers and certain service providers believed to hold information relevant to the case.
The investigation will examine whether Edenred’s conduct constitutes an abuse of dominance in the Italian meal voucher sector.
