The proposed measures include the Exact Change Act, the Act regulating the Philippine credit-card industry and the bill seeking to increased financial support to agrarian-reform beneficiaries when the deliberations resume on May 23.
House Committee on Trade and Industry Chairman and Nacionalista Party Rep. Mark A. Villar of Las Piñas City said the bicameral conference committee report on House Bill (HB) 4730 and Senate Bill 1618, or the Exact Change Act, was approved on February 10 during the bicameral committee meeting.
The bicameral committee-approved exact change proposal imposes a fine of up to P25,000, or 3 percent to 10 percent of the gross sales of the business establishment, whichever is higher, and the suspension or, at most, revocation of the license to operate for repeated offenses.
The measure seeks to protect consumers from unfair trade practices and strengthen the protection of consumers in the purchase of commodities or goods for sale or availment of services.
According to Villar, the measure was filed in response to numerous complaints in the past from consumers about the practice of business establishments of not giving the exact change or of giving the change in kind, such as candies.
He said the House Committee on Trade and Industry, representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expressed their support for a prompt adoption of the measure.
HB 5417, or the proposed regulation of the credit-card industry, seeks to protect the rights and interest of financial consumers, which include credit-card holders.
Earlier, Sen. Serge Osmeña, chairman of the Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, said, while refuge may be sought under Republic Act (RA) 7394, or the Consumer Act of the Philippines, this is silent with respect to the implementing agency that would oversee credit issues and/or financial consumer protection.
“At present, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has taken up the cudgels for credit-card holders solely on the strength of DOJ [Department of Justice] Opinion 69, which declared the BSP as the proper agency to enforce the provisions on consumer credit transactions of the Consumer Act,” the senator said.
The measure provides the BSP with “supervisory powers over all credit-card issuers and acquirers, and all credit-card transactions.”
It said the BSP’s supervisory powers include the issuance of rules of conduct; ascertaining compliance with laws and regulations through examination and overseeing; and determining the reasonableness of fees and charges and issuing regulations thereon.
The bill also sets disclosure and notification requirements from the credit-card issuers; mandates confidentiality of information; requires credit-card issuers to establish a consumer assistance unit within its organization, which shall be responsible for providing prompt action for the resolution of complaints, inquiries and requests; and defines the appropriate collection practices and sets the responsibility upon the credit-card issuer for all the actions of its collection agents.
The bill aims to standardize the method of computing the base amount for imposing the interest and finance charge on the unpaid outstanding balance by excluding new purchases after the statement cut-off date; rationalizes the late payment fee or penalty for late payment considering that this was more in the nature of an administrative cost than a credit cost.
Also, the legislators look to ratify a bill creating a credit facility at the Land Bank of the Philippines to provide increased financial support to agrarian-reform beneficiaries, small farmers and fishermen.
The measure seeks to mandate the state-owned lender to allocate 5 percent of its regular loan portfolio to qualified agrarian-reform beneficiaries, small farmers and fishermen with financial assistance.
Under the measure, the loans would finance agricultural products in accordance with the provisions in RA 10000, otherwise known as the Agri-Agra law.
The Agri-Agra law provides insurance and financing loans to farmers and fisherfolk to boost the productivity of the agriculture and fisheries sectors.
According to Osmeña, one of the authors of the bill, common and preferred shares of stock will also be offered and issued to agrarian-reform beneficiaries, small farmers and fisherfolk through their organizations, cooperatives, federations and cooperative banks.
“By granting our farmers, fisherfolk and agrarian-reform beneficiaries improved access to credit, we hope to stem the decline in agricultural productivity as a share of GDP, and uplift the standard of living of our countrymen,” he added.
These measures form part of several bills seen approved by both chambers during the remaining days of the 16th Congress before giving way to its constitutional mandate of jointly conducting the presidential and vice-presidential canvass of votes.
As of May 5, 17 measures of national concern and eight local bills are pending for final legislative approval.