Trading Stamps Act, 1980

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Number 23 of 1980

TRADING STAMPS ACT, 1980

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Number 23 of 1980

TRADING STAMPS ACT, 1980

AN ACT TO MAKE PROVISION IN RELATION TO TRADING STAMPS, INCLUDING PROVISION FOR REGULATING THE ISSUE, USE, AND REDEMPTION OF TRADING STAMPS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR REGULATING THE BUSINESS OF ISSUING AND REDEEMING TRADING STAMPS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE MATTERS AFORESAID. [9th July, 1980]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

Interpretation.

1.—In this Act,

“company” has the meaning assigned to it by the Companies Act, 1963 ;

“Minister” means the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism;

“private company” has the meaning assigned to it by section 33 of the Companies Act, 1963 ;

“redeem”, in relation to trading stamps, means to exchange such stamps for money, goods or services;

“trading stamp” means any stamp, coupon, voucher, token or similar device which is, or is intended to be, delivered to any person upon, or in connection with, the purchase of goods (other than a newspaper or periodical of which the stamp forms part or in which it is contained) or the provision of services and is, or is intended to be, redeemable by that or some other person, but excludes a stamp, coupon, voucher, token or similar device which is redeemable only from the seller of the goods, or his supplier, or the person who provides the services;

“trading stamp scheme” means any arrangements for making trading stamps available for use in shops or elsewhere, including arrangements for their redemption.

Restrictions on persons who may carry on business as promoters of trading stamps.

2.—(1) It shall be unlawful for any person or body of persons other than a company which has a place of business in the State to carry on business as the promoter of a trading stamp scheme.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 128 of the Companies Act, 1963 , that section shall apply to a private company which carries on business as the promoter of a trading stamp scheme.

(3) Any person who carries on business as the promoter of a trading stamp scheme in contravention of subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding £5,000.

(4) A Justice of the District Court shall have jurisdiction to try summarily an offence referred to in subsection (3) of this section if—

(a) the Justice is of opinion that the facts proved against a defendant charged with such an offence constitute a minor offence fit to be tried summarily,

(b) the Director of Public Prosecutions consents,

and

(c) the defendant (on being informed by the Justice of his right to be tried by jury) does not object to being tried summarily,

and, upon conviction under this subsection, the said defendant shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £500.

(5) Section 13 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967 , shall apply in relation to an offence under this section as if, in lieu of the penalties specified in subsection (3) of that section, there were specified therein the penalty provided for by subsection (4) of this section, and the reference in subsection (2) (a) of that section to the penalties provided for in subsection (3) of that section shall be construed accordingly.

Unreasonable withholding of supply of stamps.

3.—If any company which is the promoter of a trading stamp scheme unreasonably withholds a supply of trading stamps from any person wishing to partake in the trading stamp scheme, such withholding of supply shall be deemed to be an unfair practice within the meaning of the Restrictive Practices Act, 1972 .

Statements required on face of trading stamps.

4.—(1) No person shall issue, or cause to be issued, or deliver or cause to be delivered, to any person a trading stamp unless it bears on its face in clear and legible characters—

(a) the name or registered trade mark of the company which issued it, and

(b) a value expressed in the currency of the State.

(2) The Minister may, by order, prescribe that the value specified on the face of a trading stamp shall be—

(a) not less than the cost of the trading stamp to the person to whom it is sold, or

(b) not less than that cost by more than such proportion as may be specified in the order,

and different values may be prescribed for different classes of trading stamps.

(3) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order under this section including an order made under this subsection.

(4) Every order made by the Minister under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the order has been laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(5) Any person who issues, or causes to be issued, or delivers or causes to be delivered any trading stamp in contravention of this section or of an order made thereunder shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.

Redemption of trading stamps for cash.

5.—(1) If the holder of any number of trading stamps which have an aggregate cash value of not less than £1 so requests, the promoter of the trading stamp scheme shall redeem them by paying over not less than their aggregate cash value.

(2) The holder of the trading stamps may exercise his right under subsection (1) of this section—

(a) by presenting the stamps at any reasonable time at the registered office or any place of business of the company which is the promoter of the scheme, or

(b) by sending the stamps by post to that office or place of business with sufficient instructions as to the manner in which the cash value is to be paid over, or

(c) in any other manner afforded by the promoter of the scheme.

(3) If a company which is the promoter of a trading stamp scheme fails, neglects or refuses to redeem any trading stamps which have been presented to it pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, the holder of those stamps may recover the value of the stamps as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Provisions in relation to catalogues.

6.—(1) Every company which is the promoter of a trading stamp scheme under which the company offers goods or services in exchange for trading stamps shall publish and make reasonably available a catalogue which lists the goods or services which are offered in exchange for the trading stamps.

(2) Every catalogue published by or on behalf of the promoter of a trading stamp scheme shall—

(a) illustrate or otherwise identify the goods or services offered in exchange for trading stamps,

(b) state the number of stamps for which each item in the catalogue will be exchanged,

(c) state the name and the address of the registered office of the company promoting the scheme, and

(d) state the date on which the catalogue shall cease to be valid, which date shall be not less than six months after the date specified in subsection (3) (b) of this section.

(3) For the purposes of this section a company which is the promoter of a trading stamp scheme shall be deemed not to have complied with the provisions of subsection (1) of this section unless the company has—

(a) lodged with the Minister a copy of the catalogue,

(b) announced, after the catalogue has been lodged with the Minister and not later than one month before the date on which the catalogue will become operative, in at least one daily newspaper circulating throughout the State that the catalogue will become operative from a date specified in the announcement, and

(c) supplied a copy of the catalogue to every shop or other premises where the trading stamps are offered to the public.

Offences in relation to catalogues.

7.—Any company which is the promoter of a trading stamp scheme which—

(a) fails to comply with the provisions of section 6 of this Act,

(b) alters the exchange value in its current catalogue without the prior approval of the Minister who shall have the power to give such approval, or

(c) includes in its catalogue goods or services without having made reasonable provision to meet the foreseeable demand for such goods or services,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.

Application of Sale of Goods Act, 1893, and Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980.

8.—(1) For the purposes of the Sale of Goods Act, 1893 , and the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 , the publication by a company which is the promoter of a trading stamp scheme of a catalogue shall be regarded as an offer, and the tender within the prescribed period of validity of the appropriate number of stamps shall be regarded as an acceptance, in the same way as if the offer and the acceptance were for a monetary consideration.

(2) The provisions of the Sale of Goods Act, 1893 , and of the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 , shall apply in every case where the promoter of a trading stamp scheme offers goods or services in exchange for trading stamps.

(3) Where a person other than a promoter of a trading stamp scheme offers goods or services in exchange for trading stamps, the provisions of the Sale of Goods Act, 1893 , and of the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 , shall apply in the same way as if that exchange were for a monetary consideration.

Display of information in shops.

9.—(1) Every person who is the owner or occupier of, or other person having control of, any shop or other premises in which a trading stamp scheme is operated shall—

(a) where the promoter publishes a catalogue of goods or services offered in exchange for stamps, keep available for inspection on demand by customers a copy of the current catalogue relating to the scheme,

(b) display in a prominent position where it can be easily read by customers a notice stating in clear and legible characters—

(i) where the promoter publishes a catalogue of goods or services offered in exchange for stamps, that the catalogue is available for inspection by customers on demand,

(ii) the number of stamps offered for every £1 worth of purchases in the shop or other premises, as the case may be, and

(iii) the cash redemption value of the stamps.

(2) Any person being the owner or occupier of, or other person having the control of, a shop or other premises in which a trading stamp scheme is operated who fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50.

Advertisements referring to the value of stamps.

10.—(1) It shall be unlawful for a company which is the promoter of a trading stamp scheme or for any person carrying on a trade or business in which a trading stamp scheme is operated to advertise or to issue or publish or cause to be issued or published an advertisement which conveys, or purports to convey, the cash value of any trading stamps—

(a) by means of a statement which associates the worth of any trading stamps with the amount that the holder of the stamps pays or may pay for goods or services to obtain the stamps, or

(b) in terms which are misleading or deceptive.

(2) In this section “advertise” includes publish or display any matter whether by notice, circular, photograph, film, sound broadcasting, television, personal canvassing or otherwise and “advertisement” shall be construed accordingly.

(3) Any person contravening this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.

Certain contracts to be void.

11.—(1) This section applies to any contract, whether existing at the passing of this Act or entered into after the coming into force of this Act, which is made between a retailer and any person other than a company which is the promoter of a trading stamp scheme or a customer buying from the retailer.

(2) Any provision in a contract to which this section applies under which a retailer is required to offer trading stamps to his customers shall be void.

Offences committed by body corporate.

12.—Where any offence under this Act which is committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person (or any person acting on his behalf) being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of such body, that person or the person so acting, as the case may be, shall also be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Jurisdiction in summary proceedings.

13.—Summary proceedings against a person for an offence under this Act may be taken before the court having jurisdiction in the place where that person is for the time being or, in the case of a body corporate, in any place where the body corporate, for the time being, has a place of business.

Summary proceedings.

14.—(1) Summary proceedings in relation to an offence under this Act may be prosecuted by the Minister.

(2) Notwithstanding section 10 (4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851 , summary proceedings for an offence under this Act may be instituted within twelve months from the latest day on which the offence was committed.

Short title.

15.—This Act may be cited as the Trading Stamps Act, 1980.