AMID the last-minute holiday shopping rush, a lawmaker warned online retailers who send private message their prices, saying a law requires product price tag for all consumers to see.

“Online retailers who do not put price tags on their products, and who only divulge their prices via private message (PM) to prospective buyers, are violating the law,” House of Representatives Minority Leader Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan said.

Libanan issued this warning Wednesday, amid the last-minute holiday online shopping rush.

“We must stress that the law compels all retailers, under pain of penalties, to put price tags on their products for all consumers to see. This applies to all retailers, regardless whether they are selling online or in physical stores,” Libanan said.

Libanan, a lawyer by profession, also said that under the Consumer Act of 1992, a product cannot be sold at a price higher than what is indicated in the price tag.

“In order to protect consumers, we would urge the Department of Trade and Industry to rigorously enforce the price tag requirement,” Libanan said.

Under the law, retailers are prohibited from offering any product for sale to the public without a price tag in pesos and centavos, according to Libanan.

Many online retailers, including those selling through social media platforms, continue to display their products for sale without price tags.

They merely provide photos of their products along with other details, and then wait for consumers to ask for the price of the item they are interested in buying.

When consumers openly ask for an item’s price, the retailers would then reply with: “PM sent.”

Libanan said Congress passed the Consumer Act, or Republic Act (RA) No. 7394, to ensure absolute pricing transparency and to safeguard the public against potential pricing abuses.

Under the 30-year-old law, Libanan said violators of the price tag rule can face up to six months in prison, or a fine of up to P5,000, or both, at the discretion of the court.

Repeat offenders face revocation of business permit and license.

The law defines retailer as “a person engaged in the business of selling consumer products directly to consumers.”