The record amount aims to dissuade big businesses from starving small suppliers by putting off payment for as long as possible, the French government said. France, like many European countries, has been getting tougher on late payers, blamed for sometimes bankrupting small companies by failing to settle their bills on time. Several big companies have been outed as late payers in recent months, including US online retail giant Amazon, China's Huawei and France's own cosmetics chain Sephora as well as the national postal service. In France, companies have 30 days to pay their bills unless otherwise stated in the contract, which can give creditors up to 60 days to pay up. The centres blamed late payers for robbing small companies of €19 billion in cashflow.

Source: The Local August 01, 2019 11:03 UTC