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[av_heading heading=’New law bans expiry dates on gift checks ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law prohibiting the issuance of gift checks with expiration dates.
Republic Act 10962, or the Gift Check Act of 2017, covers all issuers of gift checks, gift certificates or gift cards in the form of paper, card, code, or other device.
“Now the confusion, loss and false advertising claims of shops and retailers are put to rest,” said Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, principal author of the law’s Senate version.
The Department of Trade and Industry was tasked to enforce the law.
The government, through the Trade department, “recognizes that a gift check represents value held in trust by the issuer thereof on behalf of its beneficiary or bearer, and that consumers must not be unduly deprived of the value of their money,” the law stated.
But gift checks under loyalty, rewards or special promo – as determined by the Trade department – were not covered by the law.
Gift cards/certificates, or GCs, were as good as cash, Zubiri said.
“(The passage of the) law will increase the business as it removes the hesitation to give GCs during Christmas, birthdays, graduations, and other gift-giving events,” he said.
“It also establishes the practice now adopted by more families to give their kids and friends the privilege to buy the gifts of their choice,” he added.
Violators were obligated to return the unused balance of the gift check within 90 days from the declaration of the violation. They would also be fined between P500,000 and P1 million, the law stated./PN
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