Senate seeks to remove expiration dates from gift certificates

The Senate has approved on second reading Senate Bill 1466 or the Gift Check Act of 2017. The bill was authored by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, and proposes to remove expiration dates from gift certificates.

In his sponsorship speech presenting the bill, Zubiri stated that since cash has no expiration, gift checks should also have no expiry dates. Zubiri further stated that the proposed law will benefit the consumers, buyers, and recipients of gift checks.

However, Zubiri also differentiated gift checks (GCs), gift certificates, or gift cards from coupons and vouchers. Gift checks are issued to an individual as monetary consideration or given as an honor by a single merchant or affiliation of merchants. On the other hand, coupons and vouchers can be used to redeem discounts on items and services, and can be exchanged for another item or service.

Exempted from the proposed law are GCs given to customers as a form of reward, or those given for loyalty or promotional programs, as well as vouchers and coupons.

Defaced, damaged, or lost GCs would also be exempted to secure equal protection between issuers and recipients.