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A new method using so-called QR codes is being adopted by some Czech restaurants, with cash increasingly regarded as a slow and outdated payment method. Especially popular in parts of Asia, QR enables guests to scan a code on the table, then order and pay for their food via smartphone. However, some QR experts say the future of restaurant service actually lies in other payment methods.

The Czech Senate has approved an amendment to the Insolvency Act expending to a preferential debt relief regime that now only applies to the elderly and disabled to people paying off debts incurred when they were minors. The amendment has yet to be signed into law by the president.

Tycoon Karel Komárek is expanding into the IT business in a big way, iHned.cz reported. His group KKCG is setting up a new holding company that aims to be the biggest Czech-owned IT firm in the country – and also to expand to Western European markets, the news website said.

One of the regional heads of the Czech Agrarian Chamber, Jaroslav Šíma, told the Czech News Agency on Tuesday that Czech farmers are against what they see as a campaign of describing pig and cattle farms as a major producer of greenhouse gasses. The statement was made in response to last week’s special report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which also looked into the effects of global eating habits and farming practices.

The share of SUV models in Czech car sales has gone up to nearly 32 percent in the past three years, making them the best-selling category of cars. While Škoda tops other manufacturers in the amount of models sold, it does not dominate the category as much as it does others through the compact Octavia and supermini Fabia. Car companies are now flooding the market with new variations of SUVs.

Charging stations for electric cars around the Czech Republic are reporting a sharp increase in electricity intake, Czech Radio reported on Friday. The Czech state-owned energy producer ČEZ, which currently controls around half of the charging stations, says consumption of electricity in the first six months of 2019 has nearly doubled year-on-year, reaching 828 869 kWh. Other companies are reporting similar growth.

Czech hotels and other accommodation facilities saw a record number of tourists in the second quarter of 2019. According to data released by the Czech Statistics Office on Thursday, the overall number of tourists accommodated in Czech hotels, bed and breakfasts and campsites reached 5.8 million, which in an increase by 4.9 percent on the previous year.

The European Commission has informed Czech operators of mobile telephony O2 CZ and T-Mobile CZ, as well as domestic telecom infrastructure provider CETIN, of its preliminary view that their network sharing agreement restricts competition in breach of EU antitrust rules.

Czech restaurants throw out tons of food every day. Many would like to give it away to the needy but strict health norms prevent that. Now a restaurant in Louny, north-west of Prague, has launched its own –somewhat drastic –battle against leftovers, telling guests to “eat up –or pay up.”

Czech gross domestic product has increased nominally by around 700 percent since the fall of communism, according to data from the Czech Statistics Office and the calculations of analysts cited by the Czech News Agency.