Have you ever experienced receiving a “delimon” instead of twenty five (25) cents or fifty (50) cents? Have you received a Maxx or Dynamite candy as change in lieu of one (1) peso? As Filipinos, I assume that perhaps all of us had encountered this form of payment at least once in our lives, particularly during our younger years. But is this mode of payment in good currency allowed? This will be the subject of our discussion in this week’s column.
For the so-called batang 90s, I bet you had experienced this most of your childhood. The reason for is that during our time, or prior 2016, there is no law yet governing or regulating this form payment. However, in 2016, then President Benigno Aquino III signed into law Republic Act No. 10909 or An Act Prohibiting Business Establishments from Giving Insufficient or No Change to Consumers and Providing Penalties Therefore.
The said law mandates business establishments to give the exact change to the consumer without waiting for the consumer to ask for the same. Business establishment is defined under Section 3(a) thereof as any person, natural or juridical, whether single proprietorship, partnership or corporation, including a government-owned and controlled corporation or a government entity exercising its proprietary functions, engaged in, or doing business in the Philippines, either in selling goods or providing services.
Moreover, Republic Act No. 10909 declares the following acts to be unlawful and illegal, to wit: (a) It shall be unlawful for any business establishment to short change a consumer, even if such change is only of a small amount. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as a restriction for business establishments to give an amount greater than the sufficient change; (b) It shall also be unlawful for any business establishment which sells goods or provides services to give the change in any form other than the present currency or to ask the consumers for permission to be exempted from the provisions of this Act for any reason, including the non-availability of small bills or coins.
The tenor of the said law is clear that the act of giving Maxx, Delimon or Dynamite candy in lieu of the actual change is now considered unlawful and illegal. It was also emphasized therein that business establishments cannot ask the consumers for permission to be exempted from its provisions for any reason whatsoever, including the most common excuse which is the non-availability of small bills or coins.
In addition to the above stated directives, the said law likewise declared that it is the duty of business establishments to use price tags, when appropriate, indicating the exact retail price per unit or service which already includes the taxes applicable to the goods or services being offered. These establishments shall also put signs in conspicuous places within the establishments or reflect in the official receipts issued, the taxes incorporated in the retail price per unit of goods or services. This is to avoid misleading the consumers as to the exact price they have to pay for the goods or services and, consequently, the exact change due them.
What are the penalties for violation of Republic Act No. 10909?
The answer is enshrined under Section 6 thereof – Sec. 6 Penalties. – Any violation of this Act as determined by the DTI under Section 5 hereof shall be punished as follows: for the first offense, a violator shall be fined five hundred pesos (₱500.00) or three percent (3%) of the gross sales of the business establishment on the day of the violation, whichever is higher; for the second offense, a violator shall be fined five thousand pesos (₱5,000.00) or five percent (5%) of the gross sales of the business establishment on the day of the violation, whichever is higher; for the third offense, a violator shall be fined fifteen thousand pesos (₱15,000.00) or seven percent (7%) of the gross sales of the business establishment on the day of the violation, whichever is higher, and the license to operate of the business establishment shall be suspended for three (3) months; and for the fourth offense, a violator shall be fined twenty-five thousand pesos (₱25,000.00) or ten percent (10%) of the gross sales of the business establishment on the day of the violation, whichever is higher, and the license to operate of the business establishment shall be revoked.
In addition to the amount of the fine mentioned above, the total amount of change the establishment failed or refused to give, as determined from the audit of the DTI, shall be paid by the said establishment to the complainant.
Section 5 thereof, on the other hand, laid down the process in filing a Complaint in case of violation of the said law, to wit: Section 5. Procedures in Filing a Complaint – (a) The consumer shall write and submit a letter of complaint to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) not later than ten (10) working days after a violation has been committed; (b) The DTI shall, in not more than ten (10) working days after the complaint has been submitted, conduct an investigation, and shall issue a notice to the establishment involved; (c) After a full investigation shall have been made by the DTI, it shall issue its decision and findings not later than thirty (30) days from the receipt of the complaint; (d) Nothing herein shall be construed to limit or impair the rights and remedies of a consumer under any other law.