BILL M 219 – 2007
BUSINESS PRACTICES AND CONSUMER PROTECTION AMENDMENT ACT, 2007

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Part II of the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, S.B.C. 2004 c. 2 is amended by adding the following Division:

Division 4 — Gift Certificates

Definitions

14.1  (1) In this Division:

"bearer" means a person with a right to receive consumer goods and services under the terms of a gift certificate, without regard to any fee, expiration date, or dormancy or inactivity fee;

"gift certificate" means a record evidencing a promise by the seller or issuer of the record that consumer goods or services will be provided to the bearer of the record to the value or credit shown in the record and includes a gift card, or a stored value card or other physical medium, containing stored value primarily intended to be exchanged for consumer goods and services;

"issue" means to sell or otherwise provide a gift certificate to any person, and includes reloading or adding value to an existing gift certificate;

"issuer" means the person who sells or otherwise provides a gift certificate to any person;

"stored value" means the recognition of value or credit to the account of persons, when that value or credit is primarily intended to be redeemed for a limited universe of goods, intangibles, services, or other items provided by the issuer of the stored value, its affiliates, or others involved in transactions functionally related to the issuer or its affiliates.

No Expiry Date

14.2  (1) It is unlawful for any person or entity to issue, or to enforce against a bearer, a gift certificate that contains

(a) an expiration date,

(b) any fee, including a service fee, or

(c) a dormancy or inactivity charge.

(2) If a gift certificate is issued with the sale of tangible personal property or services, the gift certificate is subject to subsection (1) (b) and (c) of this section.

(3) If a purchase is made with a gift certificate for an amount that is less than the value of the gift certificate, the issuer must make the remaining value available to the bearer in cash or as a gift certificate at the option of the issuer.

(4) If a purchase is made with a gift certificate and the remaining value of the gift certificate is less than five dollars, the gift certificate must be redeemable in cash for its remaining value on demand of the bearer.

(5) A gift certificate is valid until redeemed or replaced.

(6) This section does not require, unless otherwise required by law, the issuer of a gift certificate to replace a lost or stolen gift certificate.