Section 20-707
§ 20-707 Definitions. (a) "Consumer commodity" shall be defined as any
article, good, merchandise, product or commodity of any kind or class
produced, distributed or offered for retail sale for consumption by
individuals, or for personal, household or family purposes. For the
purposes of this subchapter, drugs, medicines and cosmetics shall not be
considered consumer commodities.
(b) "Price per measure" shall be defined as the retail price of a
consumer commodity expressed in terms of the retail price of such
commodity per such unit of weight, standard measure or standard number
of units as the commissioner shall designate by regulation.
Section 20-708
§ 20-708 Display of total selling price by tag or sign. All consumer
commodities, sold, exposed for sale or offered for sale at retail except
those items subject to section 20-708.1 of this code, shall have
conspicuously displayed, at the point of exposure or offering for sale,
the total selling price exclusive of tax by means of (a) a stamp, tag or
label attached to the item or (b) by a sign at the point of display
which indicates the item to which the price refers, provided that this
information is plainly visible at the point of display for sale of the
items so indicated. This section shall not apply to consumer commodities
displayed in the window of the seller.
Section 20-708.1
§ 20-708.1 Item pricing. a. Definitions. The following terms shall
have the following meanings for the purpose of this section:
1. "Stock keeping unit", known in the industry as "SKU", shall mean
each group of items offered for sale of the same brand name, quantity of
contents, retail price, and variety within the following categories:
(a) Food, including all material, solid, liquid or mixed, whether
simple or compound, used or intended for consumption by human beings or
domestic animals normally kept as household pets and all substances or
ingredients to be added thereto for any purpose;
(b) Napkins, facial tissues, toilet tissues, paper towelling and any
disposable wrapping or container for the storage, handling, serving, or
disposal of food;
(c) Detergents, soaps and other cleansing agents; and
(d) Non-prescription drugs, feminine hygiene products and health and
beauty aids.
2. "Stock keeping item" shall mean each individual item of a stock
keeping unit offered for sale. This shall include two or more pieces
packaged for sale together.
3. "Retail store" shall mean a store engaged in selling stock keeping
units at retail. A store which is not open to the general public but is
reserved for use by its members shall come within the provisions of this
definition unless the members must pay a direct fee to the store to
qualify for membership and the store is not required to collect sales
tax on transactions with members. A retail store shall not include any
store which:
(a) Has as its only full-time employee the owner thereof, or the
parent, spouse, domestic partner or child of the owner, and in addition
thereto not more than two full-time employees; or
(b) Had annual gross sales of stock keeping items in the previous
calendar year of less than two million dollars, unless the retail store
is part of a network of subsidiaries, affiliates or other member stores,
under direct or indirect common control, which, as a group, had annual
gross sales of stock keeping items in the previous calendar year of two
million dollars or more; or
(c) Engages primarily in the sale of food for consumption on the
premises or in a specialty trade which the commissioner determines, by
rule, would be inappropriate for item pricing.
4. "Item price" shall mean the tag, stamp or mark affixed to a stock
keeping item which sets forth, in arabic numerals, the retail price
thereof.
5. "Advertised price" shall mean the price of a stock keeping unit
which a retail store has caused to be disseminated by means of
promotional methods such as an in-store sign, or newspaper, circular,
television or radio advertising.
6. "Shelf price" shall mean the tag or sign placed at each point of
display of a stock keeping unit, which clearly sets forth the retail
price of the stock keeping items within that stock keeping unit.
7. "Computer-assisted checkout system" shall mean any electronic
device, computer system or machine which indicates the selling price of
a stock keeping item by interpreting its universal product code, or an
in-house product code, or by use of its price look-up function.
8. "Price look-up function" shall mean the capability of any checkout
system to determine the retail price of a stock keeping item by way of
the manual entry into the system of a code number assigned to that
particular stock keeping unit by the retail store or by way of the
checkout operator's consultation of a file maintained at the point of
sale.
9. "Inspector" shall mean the the commissioner or his or her designee.
b. Item pricing required. Except as provided in subdivision c of this
section, every person, firm, partnership, corporation or association
which sells, offers for sale or exposes for sale in a retail store, a
stock keeping unit, shall disclose to the consumer the item price of
each stock keeping item, by causing the item price to be conspicuously,
clearly and plainly marked, stamped, tagged or affixed thereto.
c. Certain items exempted. The following stock keeping items need not
be item priced as provided in subdivision b of this section provided
that a shelf price and a price look-up function are maintained for such
stock keeping items:
1. Milk.
2. Stock keeping items which are under three cubic inches in size, and
weigh less than three ounces, and are priced under one dollar.
3. Eggs.
4. Fresh produce not packaged for final retail sale.
5. Products sold through a vending machine.
6. Food sold for consumption on the premises.
7. Snack foods such as cakes, gum, candies, chips and nuts offered for
sale in single packages and weighing five ounces or less.
8. Cigarettes, cigars, tobacco and tobacco products.
9. Food offered for sale in bulk.
10. Frozen juice.
11. Ice cream.
12. Frozen foods packaged for final retail sale in plastic bags.
13. Stock keeping items on sale for one week or less, where such stock
keeping items are not otherwise item priced, are located in a segregated
display at the end of an aisle, and the sale period, the name of the
product and the advertised price are clearly and conspicuously posted on
a sign at the point of display. Failure to display this information
shall be deemed a deceptive practice under section 20-701 of this code.
14. Baby food packaged in jars.
d. Scanner accuracy. In a retail store with a laser scanning or other
computer-assisted checkout system, an inspector shall be permitted to
compare the disclosed retail price of any one stock keeping item within
any stock keeping unit sold in the retail store, whether or not exempt
under subdivision c of this section, not to exceed five hundred stock
keeping items at any one inspection, with the programmed computer price.
The retail store shall provide such access to the computer as is
necessary for the inspector to make the determination. The inspector
shall also make note of undercharges on the inspection report. In the
event that the programmed computer price exceeds the lowest price a
retail store is permitted to charge for a stock keeping item under
subdivision e of this section, this shall be deemed a deceptive practice
under section 20-701 of this code.
e. Price accuracy. No retail store shall charge a retail price for any
stock keeping item, whether or not exempt under subdivision c of this
section, which exceeds the lower of any item, shelf, sale or advertised
price of such stock keeping item.
f. Enforcement, penalties. 1. Upon the request of an inspector, the
retail store representative shall afford the inspector access to the
test mode of the checkout system in use at that retail store or to a
comparable function of such system and to the retail price information
contained in a price look-up function. No more than one inspection shall
be conducted in any twenty-four hour period.
2. In addition to the enforcement powers prescribed in sections 20-703
and 20-704 of this code, the commissioner may, upon due notice, hold
hearings to determine whether violations of the provisions of this
section have occurred. Such notice shall contain a concise statement of
the facts constituting the alleged violation and shall set forth the
date, time and place of the hearing. Upon a finding of a violation of
the provisions of this section, the commissioner shall be authorized to
impose a civil penalty as follows:
(a) upon a first inspection, up to twenty-five dollars for the first
twenty violations and up to fifty dollars for the twenty-first and
successive violations, total violations not to exceed two thousand
dollars.
(b) upon a second or subsequent inspection within a two week period,
up to fifty dollars for the first twenty continued violations, and up to
one hundred dollars for the twenty-first and successive continued
violations, total violations issued not to exceed eight thousand
dollars.
3. Each failure to comply with subdivision b of this section with
respect to any one stock keeping unit shall constitute a separate
violation, provided, however, that no violation shall be found where
less than five stock keeping items of a particular stock keeping unit
lack clearly readable item prices. Following an initial inspection, each
inspection that finds a continuing violation with respect to a
particular stock keeping unit cited within the previous fourteen days
shall constitute a separate continued violation.
g. Rules. The commissioner may promulgate such rules as he or she may
deem necessary or appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this
section.
Section 20-709
§ 20-709 Display of price per measure. All consumer commodities
designated by the commissioner in accordance with subdivision (a) of
section 20-710 hereof exposed for sale or offered for sale shall be
plainly marked by a stamp, tag, label or sign at the point of display
with the appropriate price per measure; provided however, that the
provisions of this section shall not apply to any food store having had
annual gross sales in the previous tax year of less than two hundred
fifty thousand dollars, ($250,000) unless it is a part of a network of
subsidiaries, affiliates, or other member stores, under direct or
indirect common control, which, as a group, had annual gross sales in
the previous tax year of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000)
or more.
Section 20-710
§ 20-710 Regulations. (a) The commissioner after public hearings shall
promulgate regulations designating those consumer commodities which
shall come within the scope of section 20-709 of this subchapter
whenever the commissioner shall find that, because of the nature, form,
mode of packaging or other reason, such price display for that commodity
shall be necessary and appropriate to provide adequate information to
the consumer.
(b) The commissioner shall promulgate regulations exempting any class
or classes of retail establishments from the requirements of section
20-709 hereof or modifying its application with respect to any class or
classes of retail establishments to the extent that and under such
conditions as are consistent with the policy of this subchapter whenever
the commissioner shall find that, because of the nature of such class or
classes of retail establishments, compliance with section 20-709 hereof
is unreasonably burdensome or unnecessary for adequate protection of
consumers.
(c) The commissioner shall promulgate such other regulations as shall
be necessary in his or her discretion to effectuate the purposes of this
subchapter, including but not limited to, requirements as to the manner
of display of unit price information.
Section 20-711
§ 20-711 Penalties. Any person who shall violate the provisions of
section 20-708 or section 20-709 hereof or rules promulgated pursuant to
this subchapter, other than the provisions of section 20-708.1 or rules
promulgated under such section, shall pay a civil penalty of not less
than twenty-five dollars nor more than two hundred fifty dollars for
each violation and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine
of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than two hundred fifty
dollars for each violation. For the purposes of this section, each group
of identical consumer commodities for which on any single day the total
selling price or price per measure is not displayed in accordance with
section 20-708 or section 20-709 or rules promulgated pursuant to this
subchapter, other than the provisions of section 20-708.1 or rules
promulgated under such section, shall be considered a single violation.
To the extent possible under law, Friends of Devin Balkind for Public Advocate has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to New York City Administrative Code. This work is published from: United States.
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