Debt Collection Offices to Submit Data Earlier – Easing Year-End Burden
Starting in September, cantonal debt collection offices will submit eSchKG usage data to the federal government earlier. The Federal Office of Justice aims to simplify billing and reduce year-end pressure on these offices.
The federal government aims to prevent administrative double burdens. Previously, data for billing electronic services had to be compiled precisely when debt collection offices were preparing their annual financial statements.
Report Earlier, Settle Later
The new regulation comes into effect on September 15, 2026. Cantonal debt collection offices must submit their statistical data to the Bundesamt für Justiz (BJ) by September 30.
The data reported includes information on the number of electronic debt collection register inquiries and processed debt collection requests. These figures serve as the basis for the federal government to charge cantons for eSchKG usage fees.
Previously, the process ran much later: Debt collection offices submitted their data within ten days after December 5. The services provided then had to be billed within the current fiscal year.
This is precisely the problem. In December, annual financial statements and other administrative tasks occur simultaneously. If, for example, an irregularity arises in the data – such as a changed postal address – the invoice cannot be processed in time within the same fiscal year. This creates additional effort for the financial departments involved.
Federal Government Advances Billing Schedule
The new procedure spreads out the timeline. Data will be collected by the end of September. Fees for October to December will initially be estimated. These months will then be definitively settled with the invoice of the following year.
Thus, this is not merely an earlier submission of statistics. Rather, the basis for fee billing is collected sooner, allowing the invoice for the current fiscal year to be issued on time.
eSchKG is Not a New Law
The eSchKG project by the Bundesamt für Justiz is behind this change. This is not a separate «Electronic Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act,» but rather a standard and a technical infrastructure for the electronic exchange of business data within Swiss debt enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings.
Among other things, the project aims to enable creditors to submit debt enforcement requests or applications for debt enforcement information electronically to the responsible debt collection offices. The Bundesamt für Justiz operates a central platform for this purpose.
eSchKG is therefore part of the ongoing digitalization of debt collection. The goal is to reduce media breaks: data should not first be printed from one system and then re-entered into another.
Why This Topic Is More Than Pure Administrative Technology
Debt enforcement is part of everyday Swiss justice and business. The scale is significant: In 2025, approximately 3.15 million debt enforcement proceedings were initiated in Switzerland. This resulted in over three million payment orders; about half of these proceedings led to an attachment of assets.
The debt enforcement statistics from the Bundesamt für Statistik thus show the great importance of debt enforcement for private individuals and companies. However, this change, decided by the Federal Department of Justice and Police, should not be confused with an acceleration of general indebtedness statistics.
The new regulation primarily concerns the billing of eSchKG usage and reducing administrative pressure at year-end. The earlier availability of data to the federal government is a side effect – it is not linked to a fundamental reorganization of public debt statistics.
A Small Step in a Larger Digitalization Effort
At first glance, the change seems unspectacular. However, it reveals a fundamental problem in the digitalization of government procedures: New electronic systems alone are not enough. The processes surrounding them must also be adapted.
In this specific case, it means debt collection offices will no longer face time pressure to compile data just before year-end for the federal government to send its invoices on time. Instead, data collection is brought forward, and billing for the last quarter is adjusted retroactively.
Initially, this changes little for citizens. For the administration, however, the new regulation could have a noticeable effect – less peak workload in December, less rework, and simpler fee processing.
The actual digitalization of debt collection thus continues. The current step is small. However, it shows that for an electronic procedure, not only the technology must work, but also the administrative process behind it.
