MANILA – Many entrepreneurs have closed their businesses when the government placed Luzon under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) as one of its initial responses to slow down the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the country.
Trying to survive amid a pandemic, some of them migrated their physical stores to online platforms while some still maintained their physical stores and added the online stores.
Other entrepreneurs have completely migrated to online businesses while others have started their businesses online through social media.
But with the booming online businesses, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) received an increasing number of complaints related to online transactions.
During the online edition of Tapatan sa Aristocrat Monday, DTI Assistant Secretary Ann Claire Cabochan said 10,323 online complaints were received by the department in January to June of this year.
This is higher from DTI’s baseline year 2016, in which online-related complaints were at 512 for the full year, and also higher than the 2,457 complaints received in 2019.
Most of the complaints are related to deceptive sales, wherein the product represented by the seller is not the same quality or quantity when received by the buyer.
“We attribute this to two reasons. One is because of the migration to online platforms during the period of ECQ, and second, the heightened awareness of consumers to address redress,” Cabochan said.
Be proactive
Cabochan encouraged consumers to be more discerning when engaging in online transactions.
She advised consumers to check if the online seller has a physical store or physical address to check the legitimacy of the business.
Aside from messaging through online platforms like social media, she said it is better to check the contact number and e-mail address of the seller.
This information will be asked by DTI if the consumer will file a complaint against the seller due to bogus transaction, Cabochan said.
However, if the physical address and contact details are not available, the DTI official said the complaint will be forwarded to the National Bureau of Investigation.
Competition in electronic payments seen
In the same virtual event, information and technology law expert and managing partner at Disini Law Office, lawyer JJ Disini said there will be exciting developments in digital payment in the country as e-wallets are now encouraged rather than using cash to avoid transmission of the virus.
He said two China-based technology companies, Tencent and Alipay, have investments in the country’s two major e-payment platforms.
Tencent, the developer of WeChat, has significant investment in PayMaya, while Jack Ma’s Alipay also invested in GCash, Dinisi added.
“We will see war (in e-payment market). I’m sure with that. They like to win the market by getting 60 percent or more of the market. What they will do is they will lower the price as much as possible. If they need to subsidize, they will subsidize,” he said in Filipino.
He added additional fees for cash-in services are probably charged by the banks, not the e-payment platform, because most of the big banks are not fully connected to other banks.
Consumer advocate Laban Konsyumer Inc. (LKI) president and founder lawyer Victorio Mario Dimagiba said the group wrote a letter to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to stop banks from collecting additional fees and charges for transactions that were previously available without cost.
House Bill 6122
To further strengthen consumer protection in this time of booming online transactions, Cabochan said the DTI fully supports the House Bill 6122, or the Internet Transaction Act.
She said the DTI backs requiring online sellers to register their business activities.
She added one of the recommendations of the department is the creation of a new e-commerce office.
But for Dimagiba, a former DTI undersecretary for Consumer Protection Group, there is no need to create another office to oversee e-commerce.
“There are two offices in DTI now -- Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau and e-Commerce Office. Merge them and grant DTI the additional powers under the bill. Then no need to create a new office,” Dimagiba said. (PNA)
