§ 197-B — Retail pricing accuracy

§ 197-b. Retail pricing accuracy. 1. Definitions. a. "Retail store"\nshall mean a store that sells stock-keeping units directly to consumers\nand charges or is liable for the collection of sales tax. For the\npurposes of this section the term "retail store" shall include those\nstores that use universal product code (UPC) scanners or price-look-up\n(PLU) codes in checkout systems or use manual pricing of items.\n b. "Pricing accuracy inspection" shall mean an inspection of a retail\nstore for the purpose of ensuring that customers are charged the correct\nprice for the items they purchase.\n c. "Price charged" means the price a customer is charged for an item.\nFor prices determined by an automated checkout device, the price charged\nmeans the price on the receipt issued to the consumer after the final\ntotal has been determined, whether the item is scanned or actually\npurchased, the device is computing or recording while in training mode,\nor by using a hand-held device connected to a store's database.\n d. "Stock-keeping unit" means each group of items offered for sale of\nthe same brand, quantity of contents, retail price, and having different\ncolors, flavors, or varieties.\n e. "Retail price" means the lowest advertised, written, posted, or\nmarked price of a stock-keeping unit.\n f. "Overcharge" means a price charged that is higher than the retail\nprice.\n g. "Undercharge" means a price charged that is lower than the retail\nprice.\n h. "Large overcharge" means an error of twenty-five cents on any\nindividual item up to two dollars and fifty cents and ten percent\nthereafter.\n 2. Pricing requirements. A retail store shall:\n a. Display the retail price of each stock-keeping unit offered for\nsale, either on each unit or on easy to read shelf tags, or signs,\nlocated directly above or below or immediately adjacent to every\nstock-keeping unit or group of stock-keeping units of the same brand,\nsize and price.\n b. Assure that the price charged after the final total has been\ndetermined is equivalent to the retail price.\n c. If a UPC scanner system is used to determine the price charged,\nprovide the appropriate inspection official access to the checkout\nsystem in use at such retail store to verify the price charged for items\nincluded in a pricing accuracy inspection. Access shall be provided to\nthe system either in normal operating mode, in training mode, or through\na hand-held or other device tied to the store's database.\n d. Post, in a conspicuous place, the refund policy of such retail\nstore in the event of an overcharge.\n 3. Test procedures and accuracy requirements. a. The commissioner\nshall, by regulation, adopt test procedures utilizing randomized\nsampling techniques. Such procedures shall be consistent with the\nexamination procedure for price verification developed by the national\nconference on weights and measures and published in the national\ninstitute of standards and technology handbook one hundred thirty. For\npurposes of this section, pricing accuracy inspections shall, to the\nextent possible, be conducted at a time and in a manner that does not\ninterrupt the normal flow of retail business at the retail store.\n b. A retail store at least three hundred square feet in size shall be\ndeemed in compliance if ninety-eight percent of the items in the sample\nselected are accurately priced. For purposes of this section retail\nstores that are less than three thousand square feet and employ a manual\npricing system shall be deemed in compliance if, effective June first,\ntwo thousand seven through May thirty-first, two thousand eight, at\nleast ninety-six percent of the items in the sample selected are\naccurately priced and beginning on June first, two thousand eight at\nleast ninety-eight percent of the items in the sample selected are\naccurately priced.\n c. In addition to establishing a standard frequency of inspection\nconsistent with the provisions of paragraph a of this subdivision, the\ncommissioner or a weights and measures official may conduct inspections\nof individual items in response to consumer complaints or as a follow-up\non items ordered to be corrected in a previous inspection.\n 4. Enforcement procedures. a. The commissioner or a weights and\nmeasures official shall advise the operator of the retail store of any\npricing error encountered in an inspection. If the correction cannot be\nmade immediately, then, the commissioner or a weights and measures\nofficial shall issue a stop removal order for items subject to\novercharges and such stock-keeping units shall be removed from sale\nuntil correction is made.\n b. Upon finding a violation of this section, the commissioner or the\nmunicipal director of weights and measures may impose civil penalties as\nprescribed in section thirty-nine of this chapter. Such penalty shall\nnot exceed three hundred dollars per violation for violations assessed\nduring an initial inspection in a calendar year and shall not exceed six\nhundred dollars per violation for violations assessed in a second or\nsubsequent inspection during a calendar year. In determining the amount\nof any civil penalty imposed, the magnitude of the errors, corrective\naction taken by the retail store, history of such prior conduct, or\nother relevant information shall be considered. Penalties may only be\nimposed for:\n (1) Overcharges found in a sample selected using the procedures\nadopted pursuant to subdivision three of this section, when overcharges\nnumber more than two percent of the sample. Each such overcharge may be\nconsidered a separate violation provided, however, that any overcharge\nfor a single stock-keeping unit that includes more than one item in such\nunit shall count as a single violation and not as separate violations\nfor each item in the stock-keeping unit.\n (2) A large overcharge found on an individual item.\n (3) An overcharge verified in response to a consumer complaint.\n (4) Overcharges found on follow-up inspections of items ordered\ncorrected.\n (5) Failure to disclose the retail price of a stock-keeping unit\npursuant to paragraph a of subdivision two of this section.\n (6) Failure to conspicuously post a refund policy pursuant to\nparagraph d of subdivision two of this section.\n 5. Local pricing laws. Nothing in this section shall be construed to\nprohibit a political subdivision of the state from continuing to\nimplement and enforce any local pricing law or regulation in effect\nprior to the effective date of this section. Where a political\nsubdivision has a local pricing law in effect prior to the effective\ndate of this section, the provisions of this section shall have no force\nand effect until such time as the political subdivision repeals its\nlocal pricing law. Any political subdivision of the state not having any\nlocal pricing law or regulation in effect prior to the effective date of\nthis section shall adopt and implement the pricing accuracy provisions\nset forth in this section or by regulations adopted pursuant to this\nsection.\n