‘Premises for consumer extremism may arise’

Discrepancy between price tag and checkout

A bill has been introduced in the State Duma that provides a new procedure in cases where the checkout price of a product does not match its marked price. Thus, if the checkout price is higher than the price on the tag, the product is to be given away for free. This regulation is proposed to be called the “honest receipt.”

“The bill proposes to introduce the principle of the “honest receipt” as a standard for consumer protection. If the price of a product at the checkout exceeds the price indicated on its tag, the buyer receives the product free of charge,” the explanatory note states.

The authors of the initiative believe that this approach will encourage retailers to monitor the accuracy of price tags more strictly, since every mistake will result in direct losses for them, while for consumers discovering a price discrepancy will be more of a pleasant surprise than a common problem.

“Under the “honest receipt” rule, the incentive for stores to display false price tags will disappear — the risk of incurring costs due to giving products away for free will far outweigh any potential benefit from customers overpaying intentionally,” the document states.

According to the authors of the idea, the introduction of the “honest receipt” principle will quickly eliminate the problem of false price tags, protect citizens from overpaying for purchases, and increase transparency and accountability in retail trade.

“It is proposed to enshrine the right of citizens to demand a refund of the amount paid for a product (work, service) without returning the product (result of work, service) to the seller (provider) if the amount of the product indicated in the cash or sales receipt, or in any other document confirming payment for the product, exceeds the full amount of the product presented to the consumer when familiarising themselves with information about it,” the explanatory note states.

At present, in similar cases, buyers are refunded only the price difference.

“This will complicate store operations”

A representative of one of the major retailers spoke out against the idea in a conversation with Realnoe Vremya. In his view, customers might begin to exploit the “honest receipt.”

“It seems that buyers will take advantage of this, creating conditions for consumer extremism. People will deliberately go to stores looking for price discrepancies,” the interlocutor noted.

Moreover, in his opinion, “very skilled” buyers could go further and intentionally change price tags.

“This will complicate store operations because staff will need to review video footage for verification. The opinion is that the initiative is not very practical, at least in its current form,” the expert concluded.