Maryland on Thursday became the first state to ban grocers and third-party delivery apps from changing prices in real time based on customer data.
Under the new law, retailers and delivery services will have to keep the price of a good unchanged for at least one day. They are also forbidden from using data to implement surge pricing if demand spikes.
The now-banned practice, known as dynamic pricing, is defined in the new Protection From Predatory Pricing Act as “the discriminatory practice of offering or setting a personalized price for a good or service that is specific to a consumer based on the consumer’s personal data.”
People were interested in these podcasts
Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, said in April when he signed the bill into law that “at a time when our people are being squeezed by the cost of everything, especially groceries, Maryland is not just pushing back, but pushing forward.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.