Duterte signs law prohibiting expiration of gift checks

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. KARL NORMAN ALONZO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

It’s final: gift checks should no longer bear expiration dates.

This after President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 10962 or the Gift Check Act of 2017.

The new law, signed on Dec.19, prohibits a merchandiser from issuing a gift check that bears an expiry date and imposing an expiration on the stored value, credit, or balance of the gift check.

It also bans estabishments from refusing to honor the unused value, credit, or balance stored in the gift check.

Gift checks under Section 4 (a) of the law is defined as “any instrument issued to any person, natural or juridical, for monetary consideration, honored upon presentation at a single merchant or an affiliated group of merchants as payment for goods or services.”

“The instrument may be in the form of paper, card, code, or other device, and shall remain valid until the cessation of business of the issuer,” it added.

Holders of unused and unexpired gift checks issued upon the effectivity of the law are entitled to avail of replacement at no additional cost after revalidation by the issuers.

Coupons or vouchers and gift checks issued to consumers under loyalty, rewards, or other promotional programs are not covered by the act.

The Department of Trade and Industry issued an order in July 2014 banning expiry dates in gift checks. But unlike a law, the order could be revoked anytime. /jpv

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