Short answer. Yes. Article 213 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by RA 10951 (2017), expressly covers public officers who demand fees different from or larger than those the law authorizes. The penalty ranges from imprisonment to a fine of up to two million pesos, or both.
What the law says
Being entrusted with the collection of taxes, licenses, fees and other imposts, shall be guilty of any of the following acts or omissions: (a) Demanding, directly or indirectly, the payment of sums different from or larger than those authorized by law.
Revised Penal Code, Article 213 — Frauds Against Public Treasury. Read the full provision →
What Article 213 covers
Article 213 of the Revised Penal Code targets frauds against the public treasury. It covers two categories of misconduct. The first involves public officers who, in dealings over government contracts or accounts, enter into schemes to defraud the government. The second — and the one directly relevant here — covers officers entrusted with the collection of taxes, licenses, fees and other imposts who then abuse that trust. Demanding an amount larger than what the law authorizes is explicitly named as one of the criminal acts in that second category.
Current penalties under RA 10951
The fines under Article 213 were updated by Republic Act No. 10951 in 2017. The penalty is prisión correccional in its medium period to prisión mayor in its minimum period, or a fine ranging from Forty thousand pesos (₱40,000) to Two million pesos (₱2,000,000), or both. Older copies of the Revised Penal Code still carry the 1930 amounts, which are far lower. If you are reading an old printout, check the current text — the figures shown above are the ones in force.
Three acts that trigger liability
The article covers three distinct abuses by a collector: demanding a larger sum than authorized (directly or indirectly), voluntarily failing to issue a receipt as required by law, and collecting or receiving things of a different nature from what the law allows. Each is a separate ground for criminal liability. If a collector demanded an inflated fee and also failed to give you a receipt, those are two separate offenses under the same article.
Special rule for BIR and Customs officers
The article includes an additional provision: when the guilty party is an officer or employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue or the Bureau of Customs, the provisions of the Administrative Code shall be applied. This means BIR and Customs personnel face both criminal liability under the Revised Penal Code and administrative consequences under separate rules governing those agencies. The two tracks can run alongside each other.