By The Star Staff
The island Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO) has initiated a new round of information requests against Sony, Samsung, H&M and Nike for alleged commercial discrimination practices against consumers in Puerto Rico.
The companies have 10 days to respond.
The request for information is the second one made by the agency. It follows a first round in which Apple, Microsoft, TikTok and Yeti were contacted, demanding explanations about the lack of availability of their products and services in Puerto Rico. So far, Yeti faces daily fines of $10,000 for not complying with the request.
Acting DACO Secretary Francisco González de la Matta stressed that companies cannot exclude Puerto Rico when offering products to U.S. jurisdictions. In addition, DACO is creating the Office of Commercial Anti-Discrimination, which will have an initial team of 12 employees to handle the cases.
Companies have 10 days to respond, at the risk of daily fines of up to $10,000.
The Office of Commercial Anti-Discrimination will be responsible for handling cases of commercial discrimination and reinforcing equality in access to products and services in Puerto Rico.
Due to the territorial situation of Puerto Rico, it is not unusual for local consumers to find themselves unable to purchase products or services from companies located in the continental United States.
For this reason, the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration created the “Bridge to Equality” initiative to promote equal treatment in such transactions.
One of the first situations that the executive branch of the commonwealth government addressed under the initiative was the exclusive transmission of National Football League games through YouTube, which was not available for the island.
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