Assembly Bill A9152

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9152
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             October 17, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. VANEL -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Consumer Affairs and Protection
 
 AN ACT to amend the general business law,  in  relation  to  prohibiting
   certain dynamic pricing practices
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Legislative findings and  intent.  The  legislature  hereby
 finds and declares that new technology allows companies to automatically
 change prices for essential goods and services in real time, using algo-
 rithms  that  respond  to local conditions like weather, demand, time of
 day, and other factors. Research shows that these  pricing  systems  can
 push  prices  higher than what a fair, competitive market would normally
 allow.  Because these systems track consumer behavior and adjust  prices
 instantly, they can make it harder for people, especially low-income New
 Yorkers,  including  SNAP  recipients,  to  budget  or shop around. As a
 result, many vulnerable consumers may  find  themselves  forced  to  pay
 inflated  prices simply because of the time that they decided to shop or
 the neighborhood that they live in. Worse, seniors who  rely  on  public
 assistance  transportation  vehicles, like Access-a-Ride, will be unable
 to shop around for better prices, those who take  public  transportation
 will  not  have the ability to store their items in a vehicle while they
 shop elsewhere, and persons in neighborhoods which have just one grocery
 store will not have the ability to shop around for better prices.
   This type of pricing also disrupts the  traditional  supply-and-demand
 model that has long helped keep markets fair and predictable. In a heal-
 thy  market,  prices  generally  reflect  long-term changes in supply or
 consumer demand and adjust gradually. But with real-time pricing, compa-
 nies can artificially raise prices during short-term events. This manip-
 ulation invariably breaks the natural balance between buyers and sellers
 and shifts the power heavily toward companies and away  from  consumers.
 The  legislature  finds  that  without  oversight, companies that employ
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13841-02-5
              

 A. 9152                             2
 
 dynamic pricing practices will erode affordability for New  Yorkers  who
 already  struggle  to  make ends meet and who do not have the ability to
 shop for better prices elsewhere.
   §  2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 396-
 rrr to read as follows:
   § 396-RRR. CERTAIN DYNAMIC PRICING PRACTICES PROHIBITED. 1. AS USED IN
 THIS SECTION, THE FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
   (A) "ESSENTIAL GOODS AND SERVICES" SHALL INCLUDE: (I)  CONSUMER  GOODS
 AND  SERVICES,  BOUGHT  OR  RENDERED  PRIMARILY  FOR PERSONAL, FAMILY OR
 HOUSEHOLD PURPOSES, (II) ESSENTIAL MEDICAL SUPPLIES  AND  SERVICES  USED
 FOR THE CARE, CURE MITIGATION, TREATMENT OR PREVENTION OF ANY ILLNESS OR
 DISEASE,  AND  (III)  ANY  OTHER  ESSENTIAL  GOODS  AND SERVICES USED TO
 PROMOTE THE HEALTH OR WELFARE OF THE PUBLIC, PROVIDED  THAT  THIS  DEFI-
 NITION  SHALL  NOT  BE  CONSTRUED  TO  INCLUDE  SUCH  GOODS AND SERVICES
 DESCRIBED IN SUBDIVISION FIVE OF THIS SECTION. WHERE THERE IS ANY  DOUBT
 AS TO WHETHER A PRODUCT OR SERVICE FALLS WITHIN THIS DEFINITION, A COURT
 SHALL USE THE DEFINITION PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH (D) OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF
 SECTION THREE HUNDRED NINETY-SIX-R OF THIS ARTICLE TO MAKE SUCH A DETER-
 MINATION.
   (B)  "SELLER"  SHALL  MEAN  ANY SELLER OF ESSENTIAL GOODS OR SERVICES,
 INCLUDING THIRD-PARTY PLATFORMS  WHICH  ENABLE  DYNAMIC  PRICING,  WHICH
 SELLS ESSENTIAL GOODS OR SERVICES TO CONSUMERS WITHIN THE STATE.
   (C)  "DYNAMIC  PRICING"  SHALL  MEAN ANY AUTOMATED OR ALGORITHM-DRIVEN
 PROCESS BY WHICH THE PRICE CHARGED FOR AN ESSENTIAL GOOD OR  SERVICE  IS
 ADJUSTED  ON  A  REAL-TIME  BASIS SUBSTANTIALLY IN REFERENCE TO ANY NON-
 COST-BASED FACTOR.
   (D) "NON-COST-BASED FACTOR" SHALL MEAN ANY  FACTOR  USED  TO  SET  THE
 PRICE  OF  ESSENTIAL  GOODS OR SERVICES THAT CANNOT REASONABLY BE REFER-
 ENCED TO THE COST OF MANUFACTURING OR SELLING  THE  ESSENTIAL  GOODS  OR
 SERVICES.  A  COURT  IN DETERMINING WHETHER A FACTOR IS COST-BASED SHALL
 CONSIDER THE CURRENT AND HISTORIC PROFITABILITY OF THE  ESSENTIAL  GOODS
 OR  SERVICES AND WHETHER SUCH PROFITABILITY INCREASED AS A RESULT OF THE
 DYNAMIC PRICING.
   (E) "SPECIALLY MANUFACTURED GOODS" SHALL MEAN GOODS  THAT  ARE  TO  BE
 SPECIALLY  MANUFACTURED  FOR  THE BUYER AND ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR SALE TO
 OTHERS IN THE ORDINARY COURSE OF THE SELLER'S BUSINESS.
   (F) "BONA FIDE CONTRACT" SHALL MEAN A GENUINE,  ENFORCEABLE  AGREEMENT
 ENTERED  INTO  VOLUNTARILY  AND  EXPLICITLY AND IN GOOD FAITH BY PARTIES
 WITH RELATIVELY EQUAL BARGAINING POWER, AFTER A  MEANINGFUL  NEGOTIATION
 OF TERMS.
   2. NO SELLER SHALL USE DYNAMIC PRICING TO SET PRICES FOR SUCH SELLER'S
 ESSENTIAL GOODS AND SERVICES.
   3.  THIS  PROHIBITION  SHALL  APPLY TO ALL PARTIES WITHIN THE CHAIN OF
 DISTRIBUTION, INCLUDING ANY MANUFACTURER, SUPPLIER, WHOLESALER, DISTRIB-
 UTOR OR RETAIL SELLER OF ESSENTIAL GOODS OR SERVICES OR BOTH SOLD BY ONE
 PARTY TO ANOTHER WHEN THE PRODUCT SOLD WAS LOCATED IN THE STATE PRIOR TO
 THE SALE.
   4. A COURT'S DETERMINATION  THAT  A  VIOLATION  OF  THIS  SECTION  HAS
 OCCURRED  SHALL BE BASED SOLELY ON THE FACT THAT A PRICE OF AN ESSENTIAL
 GOOD OR SERVICE HAS BEEN DYNAMICALLY ADJUSTED, WHETHER OR NOT A CONSUMER
 PAID FOR SUCH ESSENTIAL GOODS OR SERVICES.
   5. THIS SECTION SHALL NOT APPLY TO:
   (A) SPECIALLY MANUFACTURED GOODS;
   (B) GOODS AND SERVICES FOR WHICH THE PRICE IS CALCULATED BY  REFERENCE
 TO  THE  AMOUNT  OF LABOR, MATERIALS, OR WORK PERFORMED RATHER THAN BY A
 STANDARDIZED PRICE;
 A. 9152                             3
 
   (C) GOODS OR SERVICES PAID FOR AS PART OF AN AUCTION IN A  COMPETITIVE
 BIDDING PROCESS;
   (D) GOODS OR SERVICES PAID FOR AS PART OF A BONA FIDE CONTRACT BETWEEN
 TWO OR MORE PARTIES;
   (E) FINANCIAL AND INSURANCE PRODUCTS;
   (F) PROFESSIONAL SERVICES;
   (G) INNKEEPERS AND COMMON CARRIERS; AND
   (H) PRICES ADJUSTED DUE TO A BONA FIDE EMERGENCY.
   6.  WHERE A VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION IS ALLEGED TO HAVE OCCURRED, THE
 ATTORNEY GENERAL MAY APPLY IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW
 YORK TO THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK WITHIN  THE  JUDICIAL
 DISTRICT  IN WHICH SUCH VIOLATION IS ALLEGED TO HAVE OCCURRED, ON NOTICE
 OF FIVE DAYS, FOR  AN  ORDER  ENJOINING  OR  RESTRAINING  COMMISSION  OR
 CONTINUANCE  OF  THE  ALLEGED  UNLAWFUL ACT. IN ANY SUCH PROCEEDING, THE
 COURT SHALL IMPOSE A CIVIL PENALTY IN AN AMOUNT NOT  TO  EXCEED  TWENTY-
 FIVE  THOUSAND  DOLLARS  PER VIOLATION OR THREE TIMES THE GROSS RECEIPTS
 FOR THE RELEVANT ESSENTIAL GOODS OR SERVICES, WHICHEVER IS GREATER  AND,
 WHERE APPROPRIATE, ORDER RESTITUTION TO AGGRIEVED PARTIES.
   7.  THE  ATTORNEY GENERAL MAY PROMULGATE SUCH RULES AND REGULATIONS AS
 ARE NECESSARY TO EFFECTUATE AND ENFORCE THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION.
   § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
 have become a law.