Section 197-B. Retail pricing accuracy

1. Definitions. a. "Retail store"
  shall mean a store that sells stock-keeping units directly to  consumers
  and  charges  or  is  liable  for  the  collection of sales tax. For the
  purposes of this section the term "retail  store"  shall  include  those
  stores  that  use universal product code (UPC) scanners or price-look-up
  (PLU) codes in checkout systems or use manual pricing of items.
    b. "Pricing accuracy inspection" shall mean an inspection of a  retail
  store for the purpose of ensuring that customers are charged the correct
  price for the items they purchase.
    c.  "Price charged" means the price a customer is charged for an item.
  For prices determined by an automated checkout device, the price charged
  means the price on the receipt issued to the consumer  after  the  final
  total  has  been  determined,  whether  the  item is scanned or actually
  purchased, the device is computing or recording while in training  mode,
  or by using a hand-held device connected to a store's database.
    d.  "Stock-keeping unit" means each group of items offered for sale of
  the same brand, quantity of contents, retail price, and having different
  colors, flavors, or varieties.
    e. "Retail price" means the lowest  advertised,  written,  posted,  or
  marked price of a stock-keeping unit.
    f.  "Overcharge"  means a price charged that is higher than the retail
  price.
    g. "Undercharge" means a price charged that is lower than  the  retail
  price.
    h.  "Large  overcharge"  means  an  error  of twenty-five cents on any
  individual item up to two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  and  ten  percent
  thereafter.
    2. Pricing requirements. A retail store shall:
    a.  Display  the  retail  price of each stock-keeping unit offered for
  sale, either on each unit or on easy  to  read  shelf  tags,  or  signs,
  located  directly  above  or  below  or  immediately  adjacent  to every
  stock-keeping unit or group of stock-keeping units of  the  same  brand,
  size and price.
    b.  Assure  that  the  price  charged  after  the final total has been
  determined is equivalent to the retail price.
    c. If a UPC scanner system is used to  determine  the  price  charged,
  provide  the  appropriate  inspection  official  access  to the checkout
  system in use at such retail store to verify the price charged for items
  included in a pricing accuracy inspection. Access shall be  provided  to
  the system either in normal operating mode, in training mode, or through
  a hand-held or other device tied to the store's database.
    d.  Post,  in  a  conspicuous  place, the refund policy of such retail
  store in the event of an overcharge.
    3. Test procedures and  accuracy  requirements.  a.  The  commissioner
  shall,   by  regulation,  adopt  test  procedures  utilizing  randomized
  sampling techniques.  Such  procedures  shall  be  consistent  with  the
  examination  procedure  for price verification developed by the national
  conference on  weights  and  measures  and  published  in  the  national
  institute  of  standards and technology handbook one hundred thirty. For
  purposes of this section, pricing accuracy  inspections  shall,  to  the
  extent  possible,  be  conducted at a time and in a manner that does not
  interrupt the normal flow of retail business at the retail store.
    b. A retail store at least three hundred square feet in size shall  be
  deemed  in compliance if ninety-eight percent of the items in the sample
  selected are accurately priced. For  purposes  of  this  section  retail
  stores that are less than three thousand square feet and employ a manual
  pricing  system  shall be deemed in compliance if, effective June first,
  two thousand seven through May  thirty-first,  two  thousand  eight,  at

  least  ninety-six  percent  of  the  items  in  the  sample selected are
  accurately priced and beginning on June first,  two  thousand  eight  at
  least  ninety-eight  percent  of  the  items  in the sample selected are
  accurately priced.
    c.  In  addition  to  establishing  a standard frequency of inspection
  consistent with the provisions of paragraph a of this  subdivision,  the
  commissioner  or a weights and measures official may conduct inspections
  of individual items in response to consumer complaints or as a follow-up
  on items ordered to be corrected in a previous inspection.
    4. Enforcement procedures.  a.  The  commissioner  or  a  weights  and
  measures  official  shall advise the operator of the retail store of any
  pricing error encountered in an inspection. If the correction cannot  be
  made  immediately,  then,  the  commissioner  or  a weights and measures
  official  shall  issue  a  stop  removal  order  for  items  subject  to
  overcharges  and  such  stock-keeping  units  shall be removed from sale
  until correction is made.
    b. Upon finding a violation of this section, the commissioner  or  the
  municipal director of weights and measures may impose civil penalties as
  prescribed  in  section  thirty-nine of this chapter. Such penalty shall
  not exceed three hundred dollars per violation for  violations  assessed
  during an initial inspection in a calendar year and shall not exceed six
  hundred  dollars  per  violation  for violations assessed in a second or
  subsequent inspection during a calendar year. In determining the  amount
  of  any  civil  penalty imposed, the magnitude of the errors, corrective
  action taken by the retail store, history  of  such  prior  conduct,  or
  other  relevant  information  shall be considered. Penalties may only be
  imposed for:
    (1) Overcharges found  in  a  sample  selected  using  the  procedures
  adopted  pursuant to subdivision three of this section, when overcharges
  number more than two percent of the sample. Each such overcharge may  be
  considered  a  separate violation provided, however, that any overcharge
  for a single stock-keeping unit that includes more than one item in such
  unit shall count as a single violation and not  as  separate  violations
  for each item in the stock-keeping unit.
    (2) A large overcharge found on an individual item.
    (3) An overcharge verified in response to a consumer complaint.
    (4)  Overcharges  found  on  follow-up  inspections  of  items ordered
  corrected.
    (5) Failure to disclose the  retail  price  of  a  stock-keeping  unit
  pursuant to paragraph a of subdivision two of this section.
    (6)  Failure  to  conspicuously  post  a  refund  policy  pursuant  to
  paragraph d of subdivision two of this section.
    5. Local pricing laws. Nothing in this section shall be  construed  to
  prohibit  a  political  subdivision  of  the  state  from  continuing to
  implement and enforce any local pricing  law  or  regulation  in  effect
  prior  to  the  effective  date  of  this  section.  Where  a  political
  subdivision has a local pricing law in effect  prior  to  the  effective
  date of this section, the provisions of this section shall have no force
  and  effect  until  such  time  as the political subdivision repeals its
  local pricing law. Any political subdivision of the state not having any
  local pricing law or regulation in effect prior to the effective date of
  this section shall adopt and implement the pricing  accuracy  provisions
  set  forth  in  this  section or by regulations adopted pursuant to this
  section.