A NEOPHYTE lawmaker on Wednesday advised holiday shoppers to report to authorities shopping malls, restaurants and other commerical establishments that still impose expiration dates for purchased gift checks or certificates, saying the practice has long been banned by government.
1-PACMAN Party-list Rep. Michael Romero, a member of the House committee on public information, made the call and urged the Department of Trade and Industry to strengthen its consumer protection complaints unit to guarantee swift action on complaints of buyers, especially during the holidays.
“There’s a need for the DTI to pursue a wider information dissemination campaign to apprise consumers of their rights under the law and curb abuses committed by unscrupulous businessmen,” Romero said.
Romero said imposing expiry dates on pre-paid gift certificates has become one of the more prevalent forms of deceit committed by abusive traders.
Citing DTI Administrative Order 10-04 enumerating the Guidelines on the Issuance, Use and Redemption of Gift Checks, Certificates and Gift Cards, Romero said the issuance or selling of gift certificates, checks or cards that contain expiry date was prohibited.
Another provision of the DTI order states: “All gift checks/certificates/cards with no expiry dates shall be redeemable until used up by the bearer.”
