DTI Proposes Changes to Consumer Protection Act (R.A. 7394)

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is pushing for the amendment of  Republic Act (R.A.) 7394 or the Consumer Protection Act of the Philippines specifically providing for heavier fines and regulation of e-commerce activities.

Proposed changes to the law have already been submitted by the DTI to both houses of Congress for legislative action.

One of the changes which the DTI proposed is the increase of the penalty from the current range of Php500 to Php50,000 to the new range of Php300,000 to Php1 million.

The other proposed change is the inclusion of e-commerce activities as subject to all the prohibited practices of the Consumer Protection Act. E-commerce activities were also proposed to be within the purview of activities requiring compliance to sales-promotion provisions and price tag, labeling requirements and all other forms of consumer transactions.

The third proposed amendment to the Consumer Act is the revision on the regulatory duty of the Bangko Central ng Pilipinas (BSP) to cover all financial transactions.

Lastly, DTI also proposed the expanded membership of the National Consumer Affairs Council to include the BSP, Department of Energy and additional representatives from consumer-protection groups. The NCA is also envisioned to have its own budget and personnel.

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