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, the retailers and delivery services will have to keep the price of a good the same 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.”
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Gov. Wes Moore 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.”
Maryland is the first state in the U.S. to ban dynamic pricing.
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