Restaurant owners have asked the government to stop the proliferation of fake persons with disability identification cards (PWD IDs), a scam that threatens the industry, causing billions of losses in sales.

“Our industry was a $16 billion industry last year. Assuming that 10 percent of our sales are affected, that means $1.6 billion, and 20 percent of that would be $400 million. Assuming gross sales before the discount is $2 billion, then less 20 percent, we end up with $1.6 billion. This translates to over P23 billion in losses,” David Sison, an official of the Restaurant Owners of the Philippines, told DAILY TRIBUNE on Saturday.

Customers using fake PWD IDs get a 20-percent discount on their bill, apart from the 12-percent discount in the value-added tax (VAT).

Sison said that the discounts are not reimbursed by the government.

He said the national government is also experiencing losses in revenues due to the VAT deductions that are automatically applied whenever a PWD ID is presented.

This reduction in tax income occurs as a result of the discounts and exemptions granted to PWDs under the law.

He said fake PWD IDs can be easily bought from online marketplaces.

Sison said that to date, 42.75 percent of those who got discounts in 2024 were PWDs, from 37.93 percent in 2023.

Senior citizens comprise 57.25 percent of those availing of discounts, an increase of 22.21 percent compared to two years ago.

Through Republic Act 10754, persons with disabilities are entitled to discounts on goods, services, and establishments.

In the provinces, the local government units have been implementing additional features to curb the rise in fake identification cards.

The local governments of Bacolod City and Mandaue City in the Visayas are planning to implement a system using Quick Response codes that, when scanned, will display the cardholder’s photo.

They said the initiative would curb the “indiscriminate issuance” of PWD IDs.