DTI flags hoverboard sellers for violating labelling regulations

The Department of Trade and Industry inspectors flagged a toy store and an electronics and gadgets shop in a Pasay City mall for selling hoverboards that lack the necessary labels.

GMA News reporter Marisol Abdurahman tagged along with DTI inspectors in going to  the toy store where they were met by a hoverboard-riding salesman.

"OK 'to pero may kulang pa rin. Walang address eh," Werlina Lim, chief of the Enforcement Divison of the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau of the Department of Trade and Industry, noted as she went through several boxes of hoverboards.

The DTI said consumers should make sure that the products they're buying should have the appropriate and complete labels. The labels should indicate the specifications as the weight and size of the product and the address of the manufacturer in accordance with Article 78 of Republic Act 7394 or the Consumer Act of the Philippines.

The provision states that "the label may contain the Philippine Product Standard Mark if it is certified to have passed the consumer product standard prescribed by the concerned department."

Hoverboards should have a warning label that says, "14 years and above ... so dapat compliant sa specific requirement," Lim said.

"Once compliant, that's a guarantee na it's a standard one," she added.

The inspectors sealed the hoverboards in stock and issued a notice of violation against the stores.

"I'm not saying that the hoverboards are defective pero some ... yun ang sinasabi nila at yung weight requirement," Lim said.

The store's supevisor, Sanie Alavado, said they will advise their merchandising team on the labelling requirement.

Boboy Lao, a customer who was supposed to buy a hoverboard, changed his mind on seeing what the inspectors found out.

"Chineck ang label, wala man lang manufacturer kung saan ginawa. Paano kung may mangyari ... sumabog yan? Sinong hahanapin ko? Wala," he said. — APG, GMA News