H.R. 4966 — Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act of 2025

This section prohibits operators of retail food stores from selling or offering items for sale at grossly excessive prices and establishes an affirmative defense if any price increase is directly attributable to additional costs, not controlled by the store, incurred in procuring, acquiring, distributing, or providing the item. It directs the Commission to promulgate regulations within 180 days of enactment, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §553, that include guidelines defining (1) a market, (2) a grossly excessive price, and (3) an excessive price. For grossly excessive price, the Commission must consider defining it to include a price at or above 120% (or a lesser percentage) of the item's average price in the market during the preceding 6-month period.

This section prohibits operators of retail food stores from engaging in surveillance-based price setting, including (1) adjusting the price of any item for a consumer based on the consumer's personal information (including information collected using facial recognition technology); or (2) using an electronic shelf label to change the price of an item based on such personal information. The section provides general exceptions if the operator demonstrates to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that (1) any price difference is based solely on reasonable costs of providing the item to different consumers; (2) any discounted price is offered to members of a group related to occupation, age, military service, student status, or other FTC-approved factors, based on publicly disclosed eligibility criteria; (3) any discount or reward is offered uniformly to all consumers meeting the disclosed criteria; and (4) personal information is used solely to offer or administer the discount or reward (and not for other purposes such as targeted advertising or surveillance-based price setting). Notwithstanding the prohibition, the section permits use of a consumer's biometric data for voluntary identity verification if the operator (1) provides written notice of collection, storage, or use; (2) specifies in writing the purpose and retention period; (3) discloses in writing circumstances for sharing with law enforcement; (4) obtains a written release from the consumer or authorized representative; and (5) does not sell or share the data with third parties.

This section requires retail food stores using facial recognition technology to notify consumers of such use and its intended purpose through clear and conspicuous signage—in plain and simple language—at the main entrance. For this purpose, the term "retail food store" excludes online entities.

This section prohibits operators of retail food stores larger than 10,000 square feet from using electronic shelf labels or any digital shelf display technology and requires such stores to use non-digital price presentations for each item. It clarifies that the prohibition does not preclude providing consumers discounted or promotional prices based on purchase history under section 3(b) and excludes online entities from the definition of retail food store for this purpose.

This section establishes enforcement mechanisms for violations of sections 2(a), 3(a), 4(a), or 5(a) (or related regulations) of this Act by treating them as unfair or deceptive acts or practices and unfair methods of competition under the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a), 57a(a)(1)(B)). It (1) authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to enforce such violations using all powers, jurisdiction, duties, penalties, privileges, and immunities under the Federal Trade Commission Act and to promulgate necessary regulations; (2) authorizes state attorneys general (or state officials or agencies) to bring parens patriae civil actions in state or federal court for injunctions, compliance, damages (the greater of actual monetary loss or $3,000 per violation), restitution, penalties, or other relief; and (3) creates a private right of action for consumers in federal district court for injunctions, damages (the greater of actual monetary loss or $3,000 per violation; tripled for willful or knowing violations), restitution, penalties, or other relief, plus costs and reasonable attorney’s fees for prevailing plaintiffs, with a 5-year statute of limitations from discovery; such actions are nonexclusive of other remedies, and pre-dispute arbitration agreements or joint action waivers between retail food stores and consumers are invalid and unenforceable.

This section limits preemption under the Act to state laws that directly conflict with its provisions. It further specifies that state laws providing greater consumer protections with respect to (1) price gouging, (2) surveillance-based price setting, (3) collecting personal information, or (4) using facial recognition technology in retail food stores do not conflict with the Act.

This section defines terms used in the Act, including (1) biometric data (i.e., fingerprints, voice prints, iris or retina scans, gait, and other unique biological patterns); (2) electronic surveillance technology (i.e., sensors, cameras, biometric monitoring, facial recognition, and other tools collecting consumer personal information); (3) facial recognition technology; (4) personal information (i.e., immutable or mutable characteristics, identifiers, commercial or biometric data, geolocation, inferences, financial circumstances, etc., linkable to a consumer or household); (5) surveillance-based price setting (i.e., customized pricing for an item based on personal information from electronic surveillance); (6) retail food store (as defined in 7 U.S.C. 2012, i.e., establishments authorized to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits); and seven others relating to pricing displays, arbitration, and retail transactions.