Today, the Parliamentary Budget Committee supported the proposal of a group of Prague MPs, led by the chairman of the pirate club Jakub Michálek, directed against the so-called umbrella umbrellas, i.e. tourist guides with umbrellas, known especially from Prague’s Old Town Square. They will not be able to use the promotion of a public collection to offer services in the tourism industry. The committee supported the proposal today when it discussed amendments to the government’s amendment to the Public Collections Act, which is intended to reduce the administration of these collections. Deputies could approve the amendment in May. It should be effective from next year.
According to the justification, the parliamentary proposal gives municipalities the right to prohibit the promotion of collections. Michálek has previously described the problem in such a way that a guide with an umbrella can claim that he does not offer guide services, but promotes a public collection consisting of the sale of tickets for a bus that takes tourists around Prague.
According to the amendment, collection operators will not have to submit confirmation that they have no tax arrears or health or social insurance arrears. Documenting these things, according to the Ministry of the Interior, significantly prolongs the issuing of certificates for collections.
The government draft also regulates collections held through the sale of items or tickets in such a way that they do not allow circumvention of the market order. The amendment sets the minimum share of the price to be transferred to the collection at two fifths. Municipalities will be able to completely prohibit the organization of such collections in some places. The mentioned proposal of a group of deputies headed by Michálek wants to extend this authorization for municipalities by banning the promotion of collections.
The amendment explicitly states that it is also possible to cover overhead costs from the proceeds of the collection. Collection operators from among legal entities, who will be repeatedly punished for the most serious offenses against the Public Collections Act, will not be able to organize new collections for five years.
If the fundraiser collects money for public benefit purposes through a bank account, according to the amendment, the fundraiser will not have to comply with the Act on Public Fundraisers. The regional office will therefore not have to check it. “With these collections, there is not the same risk of misuse as in the case of collections held in cash,” the Ministry of the Interior stated in the draft. According to him, checks can be replaced by a transparent account or a management audit.
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