Bill Would Strengthen Law on Gouging

ALBANY, N.Y. -- State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer Tuesday proposed strengthening laws against "unconscionably excessive prices" at the pump, Newsday reported.

Under a bill submitted to the Legislature, retailers of gasoline or other consumer products would be presumed to be gouging if they raised prices 25 percent or more after a hurricane or other market disruption.

After Hurricane Katrina, Spitzer in late December charged 15 stations with price-gouging of 25 percent or more. The stations paid a total of $63,500 in fines. Other retailers, distributors and wholesalers remain under investigation, his office said.

Spitzer's bill would allow courts to hand out fines of $500 per violation, plus three times the total profits for such violations. Currently, the attorney general's office must establish a "gross disparity" in prices charged before and after a market disruption. The maximum penalty a court can now impose is a $10,000 fine.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 1/11/06