App helps seniors and PWDs check discount computations

By Almira Louise S. Martinez, Reporter

CONFUSION over how discounts for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWD) should be computed has prompted a local startup to launch a mobile app that lets users verify receipt calculations and report possible overcharging by establishments.

Mobile app Diskwento enables users to check whether the mandatory 20% discount and value-added tax (VAT) exemption required under Philippine law have been properly applied on purchases.

“Once they receive the receipt and see the number was already reduced, that’s how most people know the discount,” Diskwento founder Carlo I. Corcuera told BusinessWorld.

Mr. Corcuera said the confusion usually arises from how establishments apply the 20% discount alongside the VAT exemption, particularly on whether the VAT should be deducted before computing the discount.

Under Republic Act No. 7277 or the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, PWDs are entitled to a 20% discount and VAT exemption on selected goods and services, including medicines, food, transportation and accommodation. Republic Act No. 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act grants similar benefits to senior citizens.

Mr. Corcuera said inconsistent implementation among establishments has created uncertainty for consumers, particularly because some provisions of the law remain open to interpretation.

The platform features a VAT calculator and discount checker where users can input details from a transaction receipt to verify whether the final amount was computed correctly.

“You’ll just have to write there the transaction, the establishment name and select what type of discount you are availing yourself of,” Mr. Corcuera said via Zoom.

Users who think they were overcharged may also generate a complaint e-mail addressed to local or National Government agencies and attach a geotagged photo of the receipt.

“We can report or take into account these establishments so that local governments and national agencies can look further,” he said.

He noted that gray areas in the law have led to different discounting practices among businesses, particularly for shared purchases or group transactions.

“Some establishments discount bigger items, while some establishments discount the smaller ones,” Mr. Corcuera said. “Based on the Magna Carta for PWDs, they are not necessarily incorrect; it’s just their own interpretation of the law.”

Because of these inconsistencies, the app has yet to fully support group-order receipts, which Mr. Corcuera described as more legally complex.

“If we want to make them feel protected, then they can write up the necessary revisions just for everyone to know what’s really the rule here,” he said.

Diskwento became available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store last week.