From now on, businesses in Ireland will need to review the terms and conditions of the gift vouchers they sell to comply with new rules under the Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act 2019. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has guidelines to help understand how the new laws may impact on current gift voucher policy.
The CCPC says a gift voucher can no longer have an expiry date less than five years from the time it was bought. Businesses must provide a record of the expiry date to customers in writing for example on paper or by email. If there is no expiry date then it should be stated. There is no limit on the amount of vouchers used in a single transaction.
A business cannot refuse to accept gift vouchers that are not in the user’s name and traders cannot charge a fee for changing or amending the name on a gift voucher. Gift vouchers that were sold before the new legislation came into effect on December 2 2019 do not have to comply with the new rules, but any gift vouchers issued on and from that date do.
If a business has vouchers pre-printed, they can give the customer written confirmation of whether there is an expiry period and, if so, the date that applies. Details on the new rules is available at cpc.ie for both businesses and consumers wishing to trade or buy gift vouchers. CCPC has a public awareness campaign to help consumers understand their rights.
