Duterte outlaws gift checks with expiry dates

It is now unlawful for issuers and merchants to impose expiry dates on their gift checks after President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Gift Check Act of 2017 into law.

Duterte signed Republic Act No. 10962 on December 19, saying "it is the policy of the state to protect the interests of the consumer, promote the general welfare and establish standards of conduct for business and industry."

The law said the State, through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), believes that "consumers must not be unduly deprived of the value of their money."

It prohibits the following:

• issuing a gift check that bears and expiry date
• imposing an expiry date on the stored value, credit, or balance of the gift check
• refusing to honor the unused value, credit, or balance stored in the instrument

"Gift checks that are issued to consumers including, but not limited to, those under loyalty, rewards, or promotional programs, as determined by the DTI are not covered by this Act," it read.

Coupons or vouchers, defined as "any instrument issued to any person, natural or juridical, for monetary consideration or otherwise, that entitles holder to a discount on a particular good or service, or that may be exchanged for a pre-identified good or service specified on the instrument," are also not covered by RA 10962.

A gift check may not be honored when it is lost or when it is mutilated or defaced both "due to no fault of the issuer."

The law also said that all gift checks already issued shall be covered by the new provisions, upon its effectivity or 15 days after its publication into newspapers of general circulation.

Those who violate the provision will be obligated to return the unused balance of the gift check within 90 days from DTI’s declaration of the violation. They will be subject to a fine not less than P500,000 but not more than P1 million.

If a violation is committed for the second time, the offending issuer will be suspended for three months on top of the fine. A third violation would result in a cancellation of the violator’s issuance of gift checks.

Pres. Duterte signs law prohibiting gift checks with expiry date pic.twitter.com/iur8YfIJkI

— Trisha Macas (@trishamacas) December 29, 2017

The Act is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 1466 passed on October 11 and House Bill No. 6016 passed on October 10.  —KBK, GMA News