A
House bill wants to penalize those who cancel confirmed orders, burdening most
delivery riders and service providers due to frequent abuses especially amid
the coronavirus pandemic.
AKO Bicol Party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin has filed House Bill 6958, or the
Food and Grocery Delivery Services Act, which prohibits cancellation of
transactions from food and grocery delivery service providers when delivery
riders have already advanced the payment for the items or the items are
already in transit to the customer.
Under the measure, a copy of which was released on Monday, violators will get
the penalty of prision mayor or at least six years of jail time. They must
also pay a ₱100,000 fine and reimburse the food and delivery service providers
for the value of the items advanced by the rider. They should also pay the
provider an amount of money double the fee charged for the canceled
transaction.
"This covers instances wherein customers order food and/or grocery items for
the purpose of pranking or those who have no genuine intention of availing of
the service which causes damage and undue duress to the Delivery Riders and
their corresponding services," the bill reads.
Meanwhile, those who shame, demean, embarrass, or humiliate the delivery
riders across any platform may face at least six months of imprisonment or
prision correccional.
"It can be lowered if the proper committee finds it too harsh. It's still
subject to amendment anyway," Garbin told CNN Philippines.
"Pero laganap kasi ang pangloloko sa deliveries kaya this bill should serve as
an announcement and sink into the consciousness na sersoyo dito ang Congress,"
he added.
[Translation: But doing pranks on deliveries has been widespread nowadays, so
this bill should serve as an announcement and sink into the consciousness of
people that Congress is serious about this.]
The only exemptions from the prohibited cancellation of orders are: When the
customer uses a credit card and the payment will still be credited to the
service provider despite the cancellation; the customer remits to the service
provider any payment as a pre-condition for the cancellation of order; and the
delivery of the items will be or was delayed for at least an hour from the
expected time of arrival and such delay was not caused by the driver's
negligence.
For protection, the measure also requires food and delivery service providers
to make their customers submit a valid proof of identity and residential
address or proof of billing. Verification of the identity of the customer must
be done through video calls.
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This article first appeared on CNN.
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