Dear Atty. Maan,

Last week, I went Christmas shopping at a well-known store and picked up some appliances. At the cashier, I was told that the price of one item had increased from what was on the price tag, and they said the scanned price on the register must be followed instead. Since I was on a budget, I decided not to buy the item. Is this practice legally allowed? I’d appreciate your thoughts on this.

Mari

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Dear Mari,

By law, they cannot ask the consumers to pay more than what the price tag states. The Price Tag Law which can be found in Republic Act 7394, also known as the Consumer Act of the Philippines provides:

ARTICLE 81. Price Tag Requirement. — It shall be unlawful to offer any consumer product for retail sale to the public without an appropriate price tag, label, or marking publicly displayed to indicate the price of each article, and said products shall not be sold at a price higher than that stated therein and without discrimination to all buyers xxxx

ARTICLE 82. Manner of Placing Price Tags. — Price tags, labels, or markings must be written clearly, indicating the price of the consumer product per unit in pesos and centavos.

ARTICLE 83. Regulations for Price Tag Placement. — The concerned department shall prescribe rules and regulations for the visible placement of price tags for specific consumer products and services. There shall be no erasures or alterations of any sort of price tags, labels, or markings.

The provisions above clearly state that it is unlawful not to have an appropriate price tag, label, or marking indicating the price of a product that must not be sold at a price higher than the stated price. The Consumer Act does not distinguish between face-to-face and online transactions, as such online sellers are also obligated to comply with this law as well. Penalties for the violation of the said law include fines, jail time, and possible revocation of the business permit.

Further, Article 159 of the Consumer Act and Sections 2 and 18 of Executive Order 913, mandates DTI to protect the rights of consumers by providing a fair, timely and professional response to complaints for violations of the Consumer Act and other Trade and Industry/Fair Trade Laws. As such, consumers have the right to file complaints with the Department of Trade and Industry if they encounter any violations of the above-mentioned law. Hope this helps.

Atty. Mary Antonnette Baudi