This holiday season when gift checks are sometimes used in making purchases for officemates and friends, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) once again reminds the public to make sure that the gift certificates they bought from stores or retailers do not have expiration dates.
Under DTI Administrative Order No. 10-04 titled “Guidelines on the Issuance, Use and Redemption of Gift Checks, Certificates or Gift Cards,” all suppliers, issuers, distributors and sellers are prohibited from issuing or selling certificates or cards with expiry dates.
Though not legal tender like real money, gift certificates are good as cash, thus, DTI intends to regulate its use to protect consumers and ensure that they are not unduly deprived of their money.
The DTI identifies gift checks, certificates and gift cards as an instrument issued by a supplier to an individual, partnership or a juridical entity for monetary consideration evidencing a promise by the issuer that consumer goods or services will be exchanged in favor of the bearer upon presentation of said gift certificate/ check/ card to the value, credit, specific good, service or event shown in the instrument.
DTI added that all gift checks/certificates/cards with no expiry dates shall be redeemable until used by the bearer.
Commercial establishments or suppliers, however, may refuse to honor gift checks under two basic circumstances, according to the DTI order:
· when the gift certificate/check/card is lost due to no fault of the supplier; and
· when the gift certificate/check/card is mutilated or defaced due to no fault of the supplier and such damage prevents the supplier from identifying the security and authenticity features thereof
Certain gift certificates with expiry dates are usually given to consumers without cost or are given as gift, after buying a product or service.
To increase the public’s awareness on their rights and responsibilities, the DTI regularly conducts free seminars on Fair Trade Laws (FTL) through it s provincial offices. Topics for discussion include, among others, Price Act of the Philippines, Product Standards Law, Business Name Registration Law, and the Consumer Act of the Philippines.
For queries on the schedule of the FTL seminars, interested persons may call the nearest DTI Office. In Central Visayas, those interested may call DTI Cebu at (032) 255-7082, DTI Bohol (038) 412-3302, DTI Negros Oriental (035) 255-4781, DTI Siquijor (035) 344-2238.
