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Bill to penalize stores that will not give exact change to customers 

The Philippine coins. Photo courtesy of Ebay.com

MANILA, 29July2014 (PNA) — A lawmaker has filed a bill, imposing a penalty against erring business establishments that fail to give the exact amount of change to customers.

Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian (1st District, Valenzuela City) filed House Bill 4433 seeking to protect consumers from deceptive, unfair and unconscionable sales act and practices.

Gatchalian said the bill seeks to stop the practice of many business establishments like supermarkets of giving candies instead of paying the exact amount of change to customers.

The bill seeks to amend Republic Act 7394, otherwise known as the “Consumer Act of the Philippines,” particularly the provision on unfair or unconscionable sales provision.

“RA 7394 is a government regulation that is aimed at protecting consumers’ rights and welfare. It has been in existence for 22 years with some minor amendments. In order to be responsive to the prevailing times, this measure intends to add another provision in Article 52 to further protect consumers,” Gatchalian said.

According to Gatchalian, Article 52 of RA 7394 provides that an unfair or unreasonable sales act or practice by a seller or supplier in connection with a consumer transaction violates Chapter I – Deceptive, Unfair and Unconscionable Sales Acts or Practices, whether it occurs before, during or after the consumer transaction.

Gatchalian said an act or practice shall be deemed unfair and unconscionable whenever the producer, manufacturer, distributor, supplier or seller, by taking advantage of the environment or surroundings, induces the consumer or gross one-side in favor of the producer, manufacturer, distributor, supplier or seller.

Gatchalian cited Article 48 of RA 7394, which provides that the State shall promote and encourage fair, honest and equitable relations among parties in consumer transactions and protect the consumer against deceptive, unfair and unconscionable sales acts or practices.

Gatchalian proposed to amend Article 48 by providing additional circumstance by including that the consumer transaction was denied because of an alleged shortage of coins or change on the part of the seller, or that the consumer was shortchanged by the giving of candies or other items in lieu of money as change, or when due to lack of time, the consumer enters into the transaction even if it means waiving the change due.

Under the bill, violators face one-year imprisonment and a fine of not more than P10,000. (PNA)

  Get that exact change

Dear DTI Consumer Power,
What happens to those who do not give exact change to their customers? Is it really that grave if we do not get that peso or centavo as change? I usually just ignore it since it’s a very small amount.

Kris, Marikina

Dear Kris,
Shortchanging is a violation against the law, because businesses who commit this are giving consumers less of what is due to them. Needless to say, it is a form of cheating. The law that is being implemented to address this problem is called the “Exact Change Act” which seeks to “(a) prohibit the giving of insufficient change or no change at all to consumers; (b) prohibit the giving of change in any form other than money; (c) require the posting of signs reminding consumers to ask for their exact change; and (d) require the use of price tags, when appropriate, that will reflect the exact price per unit or service, already incorporating the applicable tax or taxes.”

Any person or business that violates the Exact Change Act shall be fined P500 for the first offense; P15,000 for the second offense and suspension for three months of their license to operate; and P25,000 for the fourth offense and their license to operate revoked.

In addition to the amount of fines mentioned, the total amount of change that the establishment failed or refused to give, as determined from the audit of the Department of Trade and Industry, shall be paid by the said establishment to the government, unless it can be determined with reasonable certainty that the change is due and payable to a particular person or persons.

Consumers tend to ignore it when a mere 10 centavos, 25 centavos, or P1 less of their change. What they don’t realize is the gravity and implications of committing shortchanging. Imagine a restaurant serving 500 customers a day and all of them get a change short of P1. If you do the math, the restaurant gets P500 a day, P2,000 a week, P8,000 a month and P96,000 a year. This amount could have bought their customers, whom they didn’t give exact change to, extra decent meals or other valuable products/services.

Shortchanging is a trade malpractice. When tolerated by consumers, makes it seem acceptable by the society when it should be stopped. This also defeats the purpose of putting laws and policies in place to give order to the community. Consumers must realize the importance of asserting their rights. This is one way of achieving a balance between doing business and protecting the welfare of the consuming public.

***

The Department of Trade and Industry welcomes all inquiries, complaints, comments and suggestions from consumers. Call DTI Direct at 751-3330 from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or visit the DTI website www.dti.gov.ph