Tseng made the remarks at a press conference, citing that despite a rule banning such practice in gift coupons sold after April 1 st of this year, many gift coupons in use currently still bear stamps that say change will not be returned.

The TSU lawmaker told reporters that his aide recently purchased gift vouchers from Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store that showed a sale date in January of this year. Tseng said he doubted that the department store recklessly changed the selling date of its vouchers mainly to sidestep the rules announced in April.

Still, Tseng recommended that the Department of Commerce under the Ministry of Economic Affairs suspend the issuance of gift vouchers by department stores and commodity suppliers who decline to return change to consumers.

In response, the Department of Commerce issued a recommendation for firms to issue vouchers with smaller face values as a substitute for change.

An official with the Consumer Protection Commission under the Cabinet went further, saying that any gift-coupon issuing firm that did not begin returning change to consumers may be subject to fines ranging from NT$60,000 (US$1,800) to NT$1.5 million (US$45,000).

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi said its department stores now issue two kinds of vouchers, a gift voucher and a commodity voucher, with the former virtually the same as cash.

According to Lee Hsiang-chiu, deputy manager in charge of promoting voucher sales at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, consumers will receive cash for the amount left over from purchases that less than the value of the gift vouchers. Holders of commodity vouchers will receive substituting coupons for the change due.

The new rules for issuing gift vouchers passed in April prohibits printed statements on vouchers limiting the effective usage date and refusing to provide change for purchases of lesser value.

There are now at least 13 types of businesses allowed to issue gift vouchers or commodity coupons, including retail stores, telecom equipment dealers, tourism, beauty parlors, fitness centers, and golf courses.

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