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| 1 | AN ACT concerning business.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | 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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| 7 | (815 ILCS 505/2SS)
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| 8 | 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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| 1 | sellers of goods or services. | ||||||
| 2 | (b) On or after January 1, 2007, no person shall sell a | ||||||
| 3 | gift certificate that is subject to: (1) an expiration date; or | ||||||
| 4 | (2) a post-purchase fee.
Any gift certificate issued prior to | ||||||
| 5 | January 1, 2007 that is subject to a fee must contain a | ||||||
| 6 | statement clearly and conspicuously printed on the gift | ||||||
| 7 | certificate stating whether there is a fee, the amount of the | ||||||
| 8 | fee, how often the fee will occur, that the fee is triggered by | ||||||
| 9 | inactivity of the gift certificate, and at what point the fee | ||||||
| 10 | will be charged. The statement may appear on the front or back | ||||||
| 11 | of the gift certificate in a location where it is visible to | ||||||
| 12 | any purchaser prior to the purchase. | ||||||
| 13 | (c) The face value of a gift certificate issued on or after | ||||||
| 14 | January 1, 2007 may not be reduced in value and the holder of a | ||||||
| 15 | gift certificate issued after January 1, 2007 may not be | ||||||
| 16 | penalized in any way for non-use or untimely redemption of the | ||||||
| 17 | gift certificate.
Any gift certificate issued prior to January | ||||||
| 18 | 1, 2007 that is subject to an expiration date must contain a | ||||||
| 19 | statement clearly and conspicuously printed on the gift | ||||||
| 20 | certificate stating the expiration date. The statement may | ||||||
| 21 | appear on the front or back of the gift certificate in a | ||||||
| 22 | location where it is visible to any purchaser prior to the | ||||||
| 23 | purchase. | ||||||
| 24 | (d)
Subsection (c) does not apply to any gift certificate | ||||||
| 25 | issued prior to January 1, 2007 that contains a toll free phone | ||||||
| 26 | number and a statement clearly and conspicuously printed on the | ||||||
| 27 | gift certificate stating that holders can call the toll free | ||||||
| 28 | number to find out the balance on the gift certificate, if | ||||||
| 29 | applicable, and the expiration date. The toll free number and | ||||||
| 30 | statement may appear on the front or back of the gift | ||||||
| 31 | certificate in a location where it is visible to any purchaser | ||||||
| 32 | prior to the purchase. | ||||||
| 33 | (e) This Section does not apply to any of the following | ||||||
| 34 | gift certificates: | ||||||
| 35 | (i) Gift certificates that are distributed by the | ||||||
| 36 | issuer to a consumer pursuant to an
awards, loyalty, or | ||||||
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| 1 | promotional program without any money or thing of value | ||||||
| 2 | being given in direct exchange or solely for the gift | ||||||
| 3 | certificate by the consumer. | ||||||
| 4 | (ii) Gift certificates that are sold below face value | ||||||
| 5 | at a volume discount to employers or to nonprofit and | ||||||
| 6 | charitable organizations for fundraising purposes if the | ||||||
| 7 | expiration date on those gift certificates is not more than | ||||||
| 8 | 30 days after the date of sale. | ||||||
| 9 | (iii) Gift certificates that are issued for a food | ||||||
| 10 | product.
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| 11 | (Source: P.A. 93-945, eff. 1-1-05; revised 11-10-04.)
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