In short
Act 420-2004 requires every commercial establishment, including mobile businesses, that sells and/or rents video and/or computer games — used with electronic machines or equipment not operated with coins and/or tokens, connected to a television or projection screen, as well as used through a computer — to permanently post and maintain a notice in Spanish and English with the rating and the definition of each category of the rating system for the games it sells and/or rents, in clear language understandable by an ordinary person. That notice must be placed where it is visible to everyone visiting the establishment or mobile business, including children. In addition, every advertisement or promotion of any video and/or computer game through any local mass communication medium — newspapers, magazines, posters, billboards, among others — must include, as part of it, that game’s rating. The Secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs establishes by regulation the information to be included in the notice and its minimum size, and is empowered to impose administrative fines of no less than five hundred (500) dollars and no more than five thousand (5,000) dollars per violation of Article 3.
What is it?
It is the law that makes a video game’s rating reach the buyer at two moments: in the store, with a sign explaining what each category means, and in the ad, because every local ad for the game must carry the rating. Its declared purpose is to serve as an additional dissemination vehicle for the ratings the U.S. industry adopts voluntarily, so people are better informed when choosing, particularly when the game is for minors.
Who can do it?
Any consumer who buys or rents video or computer games in Puerto Rico. Those bound are commercial establishments — including mobile businesses — that sell or rent them, and anyone advertising or promoting a game through any local mass communication medium.
Requirements
- That they be video and/or computer games used with electronic machines or equipment not operated with coins and/or tokens, connected to a television or projection screen, as well as used through a computer.Verified against the official source
- That the duty-bearer be a commercial establishment, including mobile businesses, that sells and/or rents them; or, for the second duty, whoever advertises or promotes the game through a local mass communication medium.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Information pending verification.
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: In the store: the sign with each category’s definition
The initials alone are not enough. The notice must carry “the rating and the definition of each category of the rating system for the video and/or computer games they sell and/or rent,” in Spanish and English, and in clear language understandable by an ordinary person. It must also be permanent, not a seasonal sign.
Step 2: Where it must be
The law sets the location: where it is visible to everyone visiting the establishment or mobile business, “including children.” That last word is the text’s, and it is what keeps a sign hung at adult eye level from fully complying.
Step 3: In the ad: the rating is included
This is the duty almost nobody knows: every advertisement or promotion of any video and/or computer game, through any local mass communication medium — meaning newspapers, magazines, posters, billboards, among others — must include, as part of it, that game’s rating. A local ad without the rating breaches the same Article 3 as the store sign.
Step 4: Coin-operated machines are outside
Article 3’s definition says it: the covered games are those used with electronic machines or equipment “not operated with coins and/or tokens.” That is, the console at home and the computer, not the arcade cabinet. Worth knowing before complaining in the wrong place.
Step 5: The fine and the review
The DACO Secretary may impose administrative fines of no less than five hundred (500) dollars and no more than five thousand (5,000) dollars per violation of Article 3, under Act 5-1973. A party affected by the Secretary’s determination may request reconsideration within the terms of section 3.15 of the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act, and the determination may be reviewed by certiorari within the terms of Chapter 4 of that same act.
Where to do it
The Department of Consumer Affairs regulates the notice, imposes the fines and is the forum for the complaint; the step by step is in our DACO complaint guide. If what is missing is the film rating notice at a cinema or video store, that is a separate law with its own guide.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
What this law does and does not do. It does not create a state video game rating system or give the categories force of law: its declared purpose is to be an additional dissemination vehicle for the ratings voluntarily adopted by the United States video and/or computer game industry. That is why we do not reproduce here what each initial means — the law does not; what the law requires is that the establishment publish it. Nor does it bar selling a game to anyone based on its rating: what it imposes is informing. What we did not read: the DACO regulation setting the information to include in the notice and its minimum size, Act 5-1973 beyond this law’s reference, and Act 170-1988 beyond the sections this law names. So we publish no sign dimensions, designs, forms or administrative deadlines.
Common mistakes
- Accepting a sign with only the initials: the law requires the rating and each category’s definition.
- Not demanding it in both languages: the notice must be in Spanish and English.
- Not knowing the second duty: every local ad for the game must include the rating.
- Complaining about a coin-operated machine: the law covers games with equipment not operated by coins or tokens.
- Believing the State rates the games: the law disseminates the rating the industry adopts voluntarily.
- Thinking it only applies to large stores: the law expressly includes mobile businesses.
Frequently asked questions
Must the store explain what each rating means?
Yes. The notice must carry the rating and the definition of each category of the rating system for the games it sells and/or rents, in Spanish and English and in clear language understandable by an ordinary person.
Must a game ad carry the rating?
Yes. Every advertisement or promotion of any video and/or computer game through any local mass communication medium — newspapers, magazines, posters, billboards, among others — must include, as part of it, that game’s rating.
Does it apply to arcade machines?
The text covers games used with electronic machines or equipment “not operated with coins and/or tokens,” connected to a television or projection screen, as well as used through a computer.
What fine applies if they do not comply?
The DACO Secretary may impose administrative fines of no less than five hundred (500) dollars and no more than five thousand (5,000) dollars per violation of Article 3, under Act 5-1973.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Departamento de Asuntos del Consumidor (DACO)
DACO
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
- DACO services
DACO
www.daco.pr.gov
Last verified
August 24, 2026
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