Meal vouchers in Europe Authorised tichete de masa issuers in Romania
Authorised tichete de masa issuers in Romania
Romania authorises its meal voucher issuers through the Ministry of Finance, which publishes the list, and the authorisation is granted per voucher type rather than once for a company. It is one of the largest meal voucher markets in Europe and one of the few where paper has been abolished outright.
Who serves the market
| Issuer |
|---|
| Edenred |
| Sodexo |
| Up |
| Cuget Liber |
We list the companies serving the market as recorded in our research. The authoritative list is the one the Ministry of Finance publishes, and it covers several voucher types beyond meal vouchers, including gift and childcare vouchers.
Authorisation is per voucher type
This is the detail that catches people. A company is not authorised as an issuer in general. It is authorised for each type of value voucher separately, which means an existing issuer of one type still needs a decision to add another.
The criteria are set by the Ministry through an order, and the stated purpose is to keep the provision of these services competitive rather than to close the market.
What an authorised issuer contracts
Two sides. With the employers who buy the vouchers, and with the retail and hospitality networks that accept them. The voucher works in that contracted network and nowhere else.
That acceptance requirement is the same one found in Italy, Greece and Luxembourg, and it is what decides whether a payment card can carry the benefit. Acceptance rules sets out how a card satisfies it.
No paper and no cash route. Vouchers may be issued only on electronic media, by card or application, since 2023. Paying the same value in cash does not produce a cheaper alternative, it produces salary, with every deduction that follows. The electronic instrument is the only route that carries the treatment.
What applies in Romania
| Condition | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Maximum nominal value | 45 RON per day, since November 2025 |
| Next revision | Reindexed from October 2026 |
| Income tax | 10 percent |
| Health contribution | 10 percent |
| Pension and other contributions | Do not apply |
| Legal basis | Law 165/2018, amended by law 201/2025 |
The gap between the two charges that apply and the ones that do not is the whole commercial case for the instrument. The Romania rules page works through it.
The reindexation is the issuer's problem, not the employer's
The ceiling moves on a schedule written into law 165/2018, and it moved in November 2025. An employer should expect its issuer to apply the new value without being asked, and a programme that stores the ceiling as a fixed number rather than calculating it will be wrong at the next revision in October 2026. It is a small thing to get right and a visible one to get wrong.
Other registers
Italy registers 15 companies, France accredits 14, and Belgium recognises 5. The overview explains which markets gate issuing and which do not.