Der Gesetzentwurf von Manitoba geht gegen Lebensmittelhändler vor, die „Raubpreise“ nutzen, um einigen Kunden online mehr zu berechnen | Das Business Practices Amendment Act würde unterschiedliche Preisgestaltung zu einer unfairen Geschäftspraxis machen, sagt NDP

Key details:

>New Democrats announced in December they would begin cracking down on what’s known as differential or predatory pricing. That is when retailers charge different amounts for the same products based on the timing of customer purchases, where they live or other personal data.
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>The NDP introduced Bill 49, the Business Practices Amendment Act, last week but made it available for the first time Tuesday.
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>“This bill makes it clear that that practice is not acceptable in Manitoba,“ Finance Minister Adrien Sala said Tuesday.
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>“You shouldn’t pay more for groceries just because of who you are, where you live or how you shop. We’re strengthening consumer protection so that prices are fair, transparent and consistent.“
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>The proposed legislation would render the use of „personalized algorithmic pricing,“ both online or in store, an unfair business practice.
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>In theory, any retailer caught using consumer purchase history, socio-economic status or income data, credit or medical history, or customer geographic location to get a buck or two more out of an online shopper could face penalties.
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>The consumer protection office will investigate any complaints. A person found at fault could be fined up to $100,000 or an imprisonment of up to 12 months, while a corporation could be fined up to $300,000 for a first offence.
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>…
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>The proposed legislation comes after the province announced it would launch a study on grocery pricing practices last month to identify „real workable actions“ for government ahead of the March 24 budget.
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>Late last year, Premier Wab Kinew suggested differential pricing was on the NDP’s radar.
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>Manitoba also passed a law last year that is supposed to increase competition in the grocery sector by barring stores from preventing competitors from opening nearby.

This looks like a positive move here by the Manitoba government and hopefully more provinces will get on board with these prohibitions on this kind of predatory algorithmic pricing. Ideally this is also expanded beyond groceries and the like and is expanded to other aspects of our lives that are impacted by these kinds of pricing schemes like airline and concert tickets, ride hailing, and hotel pricing.