Maryland’s top Democrats announced they will be introducing the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act, which would prohibit dynamic pricing and the use of surveillance data to inform individualized pricing in Maryland grocery stores.
“When you walk into a grocery store in Maryland, you will pay the same price as the person who walks in before you, and you will pay the same price as the person who walks in after you, no matter your circumstance, and no matter if that grocery store feels that they can squeeze a little extra money out of you,” Gov. Wes Moore said at a press conference announcing the legislation Tuesday.
The bill would respond to the increasing adoption of electronic shelf labels, which allow stores to change prices instantly.
While the technology reduces the need for manual labor to update tags, electronic shelf labels create the potential for "dynamic pricing,” which allows the cost of household goods to surge based on the time of day, weather or consumer data.
“It is called price manipulation, and here’s how it works… that digital price tags replace paper ones, that cameras will watch the aisles, that sensors will count the customers and algorithms will crunch all that data and answer one question, ‘How much can we charge this person to get as much out of this person that we can and maximize profit?’” Moore said.
Moore did not cite any specific Maryland grocery stores currently using dynamic pricing, but he says his office has received “concrete evidence” of the practice.
“What this is basically saying is to every single grocery store that you all are put on notice – that it will not stand in the state of Maryland,” the governor said.
The bill would require grocery stores to keep their prices fixed for at least one business day and prohibit the use of surveillance data and automated systems to set individualized prices.
“What we're saying here in the state of Maryland is that what we support is fair competition, where buyers and sellers have accurate information, so that they can make discerning choices about what's best for their families, and so that competition can drive down prices in a fair way,” Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said.
House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Anne Arrundel and Prince George’s Counties) also spoke in support of the legislation.
It would build on recent bills passed by the General Assembly, including Consumer Protections Against Price Gouging in 2023 and the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act in 2024.
The bill would be enforced under the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Act with a $10,000 fine for a first offense and up to $25,000 for subsequent offenses.
As currently written, senior administration officials say the bill would not affect dynamic pricing for online vendors — such as Amazon — however, lawmakers could propose changes as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.
