The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Tuesday that online selling platforms such as Shopee and Lazada will be held equally accountable if the merchants they host will be found guilty of selling misleading and defective products.

During the Laging Handa public briefing, DTI-Consumer Protection Group Undersecretary Ruth Castelo said that the agency's fair trade and enforcement division would sanction both platforms and sellers up to P300,000 if the fraud is proven.

Castelo pointed out that if the merchant uses a platform, both the store and the platform will be fined.

If a violation is confirmed, the maximum penalty is P300,000 per violation, and it will be up to them to pick who will pay, but they do have to pay the penalty, she added.

At the height of the epidemic in 2020 and early 2021, Castelo said the DTI received the majority of complaints about defective products, or those that were broken or did not function. She stated that the most common complaint from the end of 2021 to the present year was concerning deceitful products.

Castelo further explained that among the complaints they received were from online consumers of high-priced mobile phones and other gadgets who received boxes containing wet wipes, rocks, or toilet paper instead.

According to the DTI, the number of consumer complaints received by their office more than doubled last year to 27,947, compared to pre-pandemic levels of around 10,000.

Only 2,500 of these were settled, 9,900 were endorsed to the proper agencies, and the remainder were either withdrawn or issued certificates to file so that a case could be brought to court.

Of the overall complaints, 44 percent, or 12,200, involved online transactions, with nearly 2,200 categorized as misleading, unfair, or unethical sales practices.