Why oh why, DTI?

It all started with a Facebook post early one morning from a blogger who happened to be in my friends list. It was hard not to notice because of its glaring title – Individuals, Bloggers, Businesses need a DTI Sales Promotion Permit even if there is no purchase required. For readers who aren’t from the Philippines, DTI stands for the Department of Trade and Industry. I felt my eyebrow go up. The post was followed by a slideshow illustrating the steps to Sales Promotion Permit Application. I thought to myself, since when did I start selling things…?  It also said that a certain online group had a discussion about it. The bottom line of the post was, a DTI permit is needed for all promos and contests even if there is no purchase required from the part of the participant.

I was affected of course. Anyone who reads my blog would know how fond I am of giving things away by way of simple contests and raffles. Since I’m not selling anything nor am I charging my readers subscription fees, how could these giveaways be considered as sales promotions? Applying for a DTI permit entails a tedious multiple step process. There are fees to pay based on the coverage and the value of the prizes at stake. Then there's the application itself. One would need a Mayor's Permit to apply for a DTI Permit. Seeing as I am not a company but merely a regular person who wants to give away stuff from my own stash from time to time, why would I need a Mayor's Permit? My blog is not a company or business... there are no sales transactions or purchase requirements... so Mayor's Permit for what? To be myself? I’m not even earning anything from giving away prizes. In fact, I actually spend for shipping. Am I not allowed to gift my readers with tokens of appreciation?

The first reaction was to of course be pissed off at the DTI and the government. Are they so desperate for cash that they’d go as far as to charge individuals for giving things away? But see, it was not even the DTI who made this controversial declaration that has become subject of numerous tweets, Facebook statuses, and blog posts. So no, don’t blame or hate the DTI.

Let’s fast forward. Due to the clamor for clarification, the DTI did meet with bloggers last August 4 to discuss the whole thing. I kept tabs on the session via Twitter. I was actually surprised at how open-minded the DTI was throughout the whole discussion. To make a long story short, it was decided that for the time being:

• A DTI permit is NOT REQUIRED for individuals or bloggers giving away items, tokens, or incentives amounting to less than P1 million in terms of monetary value for the entire year.
• A DTI permit is NOT REQUIRED for company-sponsored online promotions via bloggers if the items, tokens, or incentives do not exceed P200,000 in terms of monetary value.

These guidelines will hold until November 4, 2011. At the time of this posting, a Technical Working Group (TWG) is being assembled in order to collaborate with the DTI in coming up with a permanent set of guidelines. All we bloggers can really do now is remain vigilant and be proactive in making sure that we are properly represented in the TWG. We can do this by keeping ourselves updated and voicing out concerns. At the moment we have one confirmed representative in the TWG for the bloggers’ side, and I highly suggest that you follow him at http://baratillo.net/.

Until then, I’ll continue giving away gifts and prizes to my dear readers as I’ve always done. I just hope I can keep on doing so even after November.