Chamber pleased with governments decision to delay new gift-card regulations

TRURO - The Truro and District Chamber of Commerce is pleased new regulations governing the sale of gift cards will not be in effect until February.
Jim Lorraine, president of the local chamber of commerce, said while the organization understands the new rules are mostly geared toward protecting consumers, it is responsible for expressing the concerns of business owners and achieved its goal to delay the changes until the new year through consultations with the province and the Nova Scotia Chambers of Commerce.
"We were told in early November that these new regulations would be in place for the current holiday shopping season," said Lorraine. "We stressed to government that retailers were already knee deep in their busiest time of the year and a grace period was required to allow them to prepare. Obviously, government listened."
Effective Feb. 1, expiry dates will be banned from gift cards or certificates with an associated dollar value. However, gift cards for a good or service that were bought before Feb. 1 will end as scheduled because retailers need time to change their systems.
The chamber was concerned gift cards or certificates issued for a specific service would no longer be allowed to expire, which would lead to major problems for retailers down the road.
"In many cases the cost of these services can increase significantly over the course of two or three years, leaving the retailer on the hook for the increased costs," said Lorraine. "That is the main reason why expiry dates are issued on these types of cards. During the original consultations, the government stated any expiry dates on cards that were already purchased would be eliminated when the new regulations were brought in. However, we now know that cards issued for specific services, which are purchased before Feb. 1, can still include an expiry date. This will allow retailers more time to switch over to cards with monetary values."
Other new rules include disclosing all gift card rules, either on the card or in writing at the time of purchase, and barring retailers from charging fees, except for customizing or replacing the cards.