Lowest Price Requirements

(1) If there is a discrepancy between the advertised price, the sticker price, the scanner price, or the display price and the checkout price on any grocery item, a food store or food department shall charge a consumer the lowest price, regardless of the pricing system employed by the food store or food department. (2) In the case of food stores or food departments utilizing a consumer price scanner system, if the checkout price or scanner price is not the lowest price or does not reflect any qualifying discount, the seller: (a) Shall not charge the consumer for one unit of the grocery item, if the price is $10 or less; (b) Shall charge the consumer the lowest price less $10 for one unit of the grocery item, if the lowest price is more than $10; and (c) Shall charge the consumer the lowest price for any additional units of the grocery item. (3) 202 CMR 7.07(2) shall not apply if: (a) There is evidence of willful tampering, which shall include, but not be limited to: removing or moving price display signs, or deliberately disabling a consumer price scanner. (b) The discrepancy is a gross error, in that the lowest price is less than half of the checkout price and the seller, in the previous 30 days, did not intend to sell the grocery item at the lowest price. (c) A consumer seeks multiple discounts at any food store or food department after his or her initial grocery item purchases on the same items within 24 hours. Contested matters may first be brought to the attention of the store manager, and if not thereby resolved, may be filed as a consumer complaint with the Division of Standards and/or the Office of the Attorney General. (4) All food stores and food departments that use a consumer price scanner shall clearly and conspicuously post the provisions of 202 CMR 7.07(2) at each register. (5) For each register that fails to display appropriate signage, the food store or food department shall be subject to a fine of $200, up to a maximum of $500 per inspection by the deputy director. (6) All food stores and food departments, regardless of the pricing system utilized, shall maintain data on price discrepancies, which shall be provided to the division upon request. (a) The data shall be recorded on a daily log, either in paper or electronic format, signed, initialed or otherwise acknowledged by an identifier traceable to the specific employee who enters the data; (b) The log shall reference the time and date of the discrepancy, the name and brand of the item and the SKU or UPS code of the item, the price charged, the price differential, the steps taken to rectify the pricing error, and the time elapsed from discovery of the error to time it is corrected; and (c) For those errors in a food store or food department using consumer price scanners which result in providing the consumer with a free item, a discounted item, and/or additional units provided to the consumer at the correct price, the log should also reflect the quantities of free or discounted items provided.