BELGIUM | OLIVIER DUGARDYN AND CARLA GHISLAIN 83 5.1. Ministerial Ruling of 19 March 2020 In response to the distress of travel organisers on the verge of bankruptcy, the Belgian government has decided to adopt the Ministerial ruling of 19 March 2020 on the reimbursement of cancelled package tours. This ruling authorises organisers to provide “Corona” vouchers in lieu of cash refunds in view of the exceptional circumstances affecting the travel sector because of the Coronavirus pandemic. A “Corona” voucher was a voucher issued by an organiser when a package travel had to be cancelled by the organiser because of the Coronavirus. According to the Ministerial ruling in question, in order to be valid, the voucher had to meet the following criteria: 1) the voucher represents the total value of the amount already paid by the traveller; 2) no cost will be charged to the traveller for the issue of the voucher; 3) the voucher has a validity of at least one year; and 4) the voucher explicitly states that it was issued as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Article 1(2) of the Ministerial ruling provided that the traveller might not refuse the voucher. This was of course disputed by some travellers who were desperate for an immediate cash refund. However, it must be noted that this compulsory voucher could only be issued by the organisers during a short period, namely from 20 March 2010 to 20 June 2020. Outside this period, travellers were entitled to refuse such a voucher and request a cash refund. The voucher had to be valid for at least one year. This means that, during this year, the traveller could book a new trip using the voucher. If the traveller had not used the voucher for one year, he/she could request a refund from the organiser who issued it. The organiser should then refund the amount of the voucher within 6 months of the traveller’s request. Article 3 of the Ministerial ruling provided that the insurance policy that the reimbursement of the vouchers referred to in Article 1 was covered by the insolvency insurance of organisers. In view of the large number of insolvency proceedings brought about by the health crisis on the part of travel organisers, this rule has put a great deal of pressure on insolvency organisers, who have found themselves faced with an extremely large number of requests for reimbursement of unused vouchers.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==