Deposit return scheme for Scotland: business and regulatory impact assessment
Final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA), which is a development of the partial BRIA published in June 2018 and the full BRIA published in July 2019.
9.0 Digital Impact Test
268. Changes to policy, regulation or legislation can often have unintended consequences, should government fail to consider advances in technology and the impact this may have on future delivery. This digital impact test is a consideration of whether the changes being made can still be applied effectively should business/government processes change – such as services moving online. The below details the evaluation of the interaction between the final DRS and current and future digital developments. Overall, it is viewed that the final DRS will not have an adverse impact on digital technology developments.
| Question 1. Does the measure take account of changing digital technologies and markets? |
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| Changing digital technologies and markets have been taken into account during the development of the Scottish DRS. Customers remain able to order drinks through online services and reclaim the deposit through both online and traditional retailers. Similarly, online services will not be adversely impacted by the scheme. This is assessed further in the Competition Impact Assessment. |
| Question 2. Will the measure be applicable in a digital/online context? |
| A Scottish DRS would apply to both online and offline retailers, as deposits would apply to all drinks containers within the scope of the scheme that enter the Scottish market. |
| Question 3. Is there a possibility the measures could be circumvented by digital/online transactions? |
| As drinks containers are not only sold by traditional but also by online retailers, the DRS will need to apply to online transactions in order to serve the original purpose. |
| Question 4. Alternatively, will the measure only be applicable in a digital context and therefore may have an adverse impact on traditional or offline businesses? |
| The Scottish DRS will be applicable equally to both digital and traditional businesses and would therefore not result in an adverse impact on traditional or offline businesses. |
| Question 5. If the measure can be applied in an offline and online environment will this in itself have any adverse impact on incumbent operators? |
| No. |
Contact
Email: DRSinScotland@gov.scot
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