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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
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OF THE PHILIPPNES 
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First Regular Session 
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SENATE 
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S.B.No. 1255 
introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article XVI provides: 
Section 9, The State shall protect consumers from trade malpractices and 
from substandard or hazardous practices. 
Republic Act No. 7934, otherwise known as the Consumer Act was passed in order to 
protect the interests of the consumer, promote his general welfare and to establish standards of 
conduct for business and industry. Because of the key role consumers play in the Philippine 
economy, the law was enacted to protect the rights of consumers and to put a stop to abusive 
practices of business establishments in the country. 
The practices of giving insufficient change or giving no change at all to consumers by 
product sellers or service providers is something that is often taken for granted. This is usually 
because the change involves only a matter of five (5), ten (lo), fifteen (15) or twenty (20) 
centavos, or small bills which when added up at the end of the day, amounts to thousands of 
pesos. That failure to give the change or the exact change constitutes a trade malpractice that 
must be stopped. 
This bill seeks to (a) prohibit the giving insufficient change or no change at all to 
consumers; (b) to prohibit the giving of change in any form other than money; (c) require the 
posting of signs reminding consumers to ask for their exact change; and (d) require the use of 
price tags, when appropriate, that will reflect the exact price per unit or services, already 
incorporating the applicable tax or taxes.* 
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* This bill was originally drafted by the interns of the undersigned's Summer sa Senado program, namely: Lourdes 
E. Pulido, Kristine Erika M. Lntap, Mary Shiela M. Olaso, Eva Ann A. Manalo, Kristine Sarah R. Payuan, and 
Anarnaine B. Asinas. It was originally filed during the Thirteenth Congress, First Regular Session. 


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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
SENATE 
S.B.No. 125% 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
REQUIRING BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS TO GIVE EXACT CHANGE TO 
CONSUMERS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assem bled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall he known as the “Exact Change Act.” 
SECTION 2. Declaration ofPolicy. - It is the policy of the State to protect the interest of 
the consumer, promote his general welfare and to establish standards of conduct for business and 
industry. Towards this end, the State shall implement measures to achieve the following 
objectives: 
(A) The protection against deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable sales acts and 
practices; 
(B) The provision of information and education to facilitate sound choices and the 
proper exercise of rights by the consumer; 
(C) The provision of adequate rights and means of redress; and 
(D) The provision of penalties for offenders. 
SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. -For the purpose of this Act, the term: 
(A) “Consumer” means a natural person who is a purchaser or recipient of consumer 
products, services or credit; 
(B) “Business establishment” means any person or entity, whether single proprietorship, 
partnership, or corporation, including government-owned and controlled 
corporations or a government entity exercising its proprietary functions, engaged in, 
doing business in the Philippines, either in selling products or providing services; 
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(C) ‘‘Consumer products and services” means goods, services and credits, debts or 
obligations which are primarily for personal, family, household, or agricultural 
purposes, which shall include, but is not limited to, food, drugs, cosmetics, and 
devices; 
(D) “Services” means services that are subject to a consumer transaction, either together 
with, or separate from, any kind of personal properly, whether tangible or 
intangible; 
(E) “Price tag” means any device, written, printed, affixed or attached in a consumer 
product or displayed in a consumer retail or service establish for the purpose of 
indicating the retail price per unit or service; 
“Change” means the excess in the payment given by a consumer for products or 
services purchased or received; 
(G) “Insufficient change” means a change that is less than what is due the consumer; 
and 
(H) “Department” means the Department of Trade and Industry. 
(F) 
SECTION 4. Prohibition against Failing or Refusing to Give Exact Change. - It shall be 
unlawful for any business establishments to give insufficient change or no change at all to 
consumers who purchased or received products or services, even if such change is only of a 
small amount. It shall be the duty of the business establishment to give exact exchange to the 
consumer without waiting for the consumer to ask for the same. 
SECTION 5. Procedure in Filing a Complaint. - 
(A) Not later than ten (10) working days after a violation has been committed, the 
consumer shall write and submit a letter of complaint to the Department. 
(B) The Department shall, in not more than ten (10) working days a€ter the complaint 
has been submitted, conduct an investigation andhdit and shall issue a notice to 
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the establishment involved. 
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(C) After a full investigation shall have been made by the Department, it shall issue its 
decision and findings not later than thirty (30) days from the receipt of the 
complaint. 
SECTION 6. Zrzforination Campaign. - The Department shall undertake to implement an 
education campaign to inform consumers of the provisions of this Act. It shall regularly publish 
a list of the establishments found to have violated any provisions of this Act. 
SECTION 7. Rules and Regulations. - It shall be the duty of the Department, in 
coordination with other executive departments or government agencies which may be involved, 
to formulate and issue the necessary rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this 
Act. 
SECTION 8. Penalties. - Any violation of this Act shall be punished as follows: For the 
first offense, a violator shall be fined Five Hundred Pesos (P500.00); for the second offense, a 
violator shall be fined Fifteen Thousand Pesos (I5,OOO.OO) and the license to operate the business 
establishment shall be suspended for three months; and for the fourth offense, a violator shall be 
fined Twenty-five Thousand Pesos (P25,OOO.OO) and the license to operate shall be revoked. 
In addition to the amount of the fine mentioned above, the total amount of change the 
establishment failed or refused to give, as determined from the audit o€ the Department, shall be 
paid by the said establishment to the government unless it can be determined with reasonable 
certainty that the change is due and payable to a particular person or persons. 
SECTION 9. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law of the provision not otherwise affected shall remain 
valid and subsisting. 
SECTION 10. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to, or inconsistent 
with, the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly. 
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SECTION 11. Efecectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
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Approved, 
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