Full Text of SB2196 94th General Assembly
SB2196 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006 SB2196
Introduced 1/11/2006, by Sen. Martin A. Sandoval SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that no person shall sell a gift certificate that is subject to an expiration date or a fee. Provides that the face value of a gift certificate may not be reduced in value and the holder of a gift certificate may not be penalized in any way for non-use or untimely redemption of the gift certificate. Deletes language requiring that a gift certificate subject to a fee or expiration date contain a statement clearly and conspicuously printed on the gift certificate stating the expiration date or whether there is a fee. Makes other changes.
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A BILL FOR
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SB2196 |
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LRB094 15788 LCT 51004 b |
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| AN ACT concerning business.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | 5 |
| Practices Act is amended by changing and renumbering Section | 6 |
| 2QQ, as added by Public Act 93-945, as follows:
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| (815 ILCS 505/2SS)
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| Sec. 2SS
2QQ . Gift certificates. | 9 |
| (a) "Gift certificate" means a record evidencing a promise, | 10 |
| made for consideration, by the seller or issuer of the record | 11 |
| that goods or services will be provided to the holder of the | 12 |
| record for the value shown in the record and includes, but is | 13 |
| not limited to, a record that contains a microprocessor chip, | 14 |
| magnetic stripe or other means for the storage of information | 15 |
| that is prefunded and for which the value is decremented upon | 16 |
| each use, a gift card, an electronic gift card, stored-value | 17 |
| card or certificate, a store card or a similar record or card. | 18 |
| For purposes of this Act, the term "gift certificate" does not | 19 |
| include any of the following: | 20 |
| (i) prepaid telecommunications and technology cards | 21 |
| including, but not limited
to, prepaid telephone calling | 22 |
| cards, prepaid technical support cards, and prepaid | 23 |
| Internet disks that are distributed to or purchased by a | 24 |
| consumer; | 25 |
| (ii) prepaid telecommunications and technology cards | 26 |
| including, but not
limited to, prepaid telephone calling | 27 |
| cards, prepaid technical support cards, and prepaid | 28 |
| Internet disks that are provided to a consumer pursuant to | 29 |
| any award, loyalty, or promotion program without any money | 30 |
| or other thing of value being given in exchange for the | 31 |
| card; or | 32 |
| (iii) any gift certificate usable with multiple |
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SB2196 |
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LRB094 15788 LCT 51004 b |
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| sellers of goods or services. | 2 |
| (b) No person shall sell a gift certificate that is subject | 3 |
| to: (1) an expiration date; or (2) a fee.
Any gift certificate | 4 |
| subject to a fee must contain a statement clearly and | 5 |
| conspicuously printed on the gift certificate stating whether | 6 |
| there is a fee, the amount of the fee, how often the fee will | 7 |
| occur, that the fee is triggered by inactivity of the gift | 8 |
| certificate, and at what point the fee will be charged. The | 9 |
| statement may appear on the front or back of the gift | 10 |
| certificate in a location where it is visible to any purchaser | 11 |
| prior to the purchase. | 12 |
| (c) The face value of a gift certificate may not be reduced | 13 |
| in value and the holder of a gift certificate may not be | 14 |
| penalized in any way for non-use or untimely redemption of the | 15 |
| gift certificate.
Any gift certificate subject to an expiration | 16 |
| date must contain a statement clearly and conspicuously printed | 17 |
| on the gift certificate stating the expiration date. The | 18 |
| statement may appear on the front or back of the gift | 19 |
| certificate in a location where it is visible to any purchaser | 20 |
| prior to the purchase. | 21 |
| (d) (Blank).
Subsection (c) does not apply to any gift | 22 |
| certificate that contains a toll free phone number and a | 23 |
| statement clearly and conspicuously printed on the gift | 24 |
| certificate stating that holders can call the toll free number | 25 |
| to find out the balance on the gift certificate, if applicable, | 26 |
| and the expiration date. The toll free number and statement may | 27 |
| appear on the front or back of the gift certificate in a | 28 |
| location where it is visible to any purchaser prior to the | 29 |
| purchase. | 30 |
| (e) This Section does not apply to any of the following | 31 |
| gift certificates: | 32 |
| (i) Gift certificates that are distributed by the | 33 |
| issuer to a consumer pursuant to an
awards, loyalty, or | 34 |
| promotional program without any money or thing of value | 35 |
| being given in exchange for the gift certificate by the | 36 |
| consumer. |
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SB2196 |
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LRB094 15788 LCT 51004 b |
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| (ii) Gift certificates that are sold below face value | 2 |
| at a volume discount to employers or to nonprofit and | 3 |
| charitable organizations for fundraising purposes if the | 4 |
| expiration date on those gift certificates is not more than | 5 |
| 30 days after the date of sale. | 6 |
| (iii) Gift certificates that are issued for a food | 7 |
| product.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-945, eff. 1-1-05; revised 11-10-04.)
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