PRICING Act of 2026

PRICING ACT OF 2026

Price Reliability, Integrity, Consumer Information, and No-Gouging Act

COMPREHENSIVE SUBSTITUTE DISCUSSION DRAFT

20 titles • 160 sections

September 20, 2026

Proposed Federal legislation. Not introduced or enacted. All new rights, numerical thresholds, and authorizations are proposed policy choices.

A BILL

To require complete and accurate consumer prices; prohibit deceptive fees, surveillance pricing, emergency price gouging, and certain anticompetitive pricing practices; establish rights concerning billing, recurring charges, refunds, and changes in the value of goods and services; and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Price Reliability, Integrity, Consumer Information, and No-Gouging Act” or the “PRICING Act of 2026”.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

TITLE I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 101. Purposes and rules of construction.

Sec. 102. Definitions.

Sec. 103. Commerce and territorial application.

Sec. 104. Attribution, affiliates, and anti-evasion.

Sec. 105. Informed affirmative consent.

Sec. 106. Independent statutory duties.

TITLE II. COMPLETE, COMPARABLE, AND ACCESSIBLE PRICES

Sec. 201. All-in first price.

Sec. 202. Taxes, location, and genuinely undeterminable amounts.

Sec. 203. Shipping, delivery, baskets, and fulfillment.

Sec. 204. Deposits, holds, and contingent charges.

Sec. 205. Usage, estimates, and spending limits.

Sec. 206. Conditional prices, financing, and rebates.

Sec. 207. Binding quotes and changes in scope.

Sec. 208. Shelf, scanner, and transaction integrity.

Sec. 209. Accessibility and languages.

Sec. 210. Consumer-directed comparison and price data.

TITLE III. FEES, BILLING, DISPUTES, AND REFUNDS

Sec. 301. Prohibited charges.

Sec. 302. Optional extras and gratuities.

Sec. 303. Payment-method charges.

Sec. 304. Contingent fees and claims for damage.

Sec. 305. Itemized and durable receipts.

Sec. 306. Billing disputes.

Sec. 307. Refund deadlines and methods.

Sec. 308. Systemic errors and unauthorized collection.

Sec. 309. Retaliation and review suppression.

TITLE IV. SUBSCRIPTIONS, RENEWALS, AND SWITCHING

Sec. 401. Enrollment and recurring consent.

Sec. 402. Trials, renewal notices, and reminders.

Sec. 403. Price increases and material reductions.

Sec. 404. Cancellation without obstruction.

Sec. 405. Prepayments, bundles, and exit charges.

Sec. 406. Hardship, death, and service failure.

Sec. 407. Intermediaries and payment authority.

Sec. 408. Sectoral limitations.

TITLE V. DYNAMIC PRICING, SURVEILLANCE, AND ALGORITHMIC ACCOUNTABILITY

Sec. 501. Prohibition on surveillance pricing.

Sec. 502. Sensitive data and privacy choices.

Sec. 503. Permitted pricing and underwriting.

Sec. 504. Notice of permitted variable pricing.

Sec. 505. Price locks and inventory.

Sec. 506. Queues, session integrity, and targeted friction.

Sec. 507. Consumer explanations.

Sec. 508. Impact assessments and certification.

Sec. 509. Independent audits.

Sec. 510. Vendor duties and human responsibility.

TITLE VI. ESSENTIAL GOODS, EMERGENCIES, AND SUPPLY PROTECTION

Sec. 601. Essential goods and services.

Sec. 602. Ordinary essential-goods pricing stability.

Sec. 603. Cost justification and anti-evasion.

Sec. 604. Emergency activation and duration.

Sec. 605. Emergency maximum prices.

Sec. 606. Baselines, seasonality, and new entrants.

Sec. 607. Emergency market manipulation.

Sec. 608. Marketplace emergency duties.

Sec. 609. Supply monitoring and public warnings.

TITLE VII. COMPETITION, MARKETPLACES, AND COMMERCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

Sec. 701. Nonpublic competitor data in pricing systems.

Sec. 702. Lawful information and independent price setting.

Sec. 703. Lower-price freedom and parity restrictions.

Sec. 704. Marketplace responsibility for controlled conduct.

Sec. 705. Notice, correction, and seller appeals.

Sec. 706. Conditional marketplace safe harbor.

Sec. 707. Ranking, sponsorship, and price sorting.

Sec. 708. Consumer purchasing agents.

Sec. 709. Relation to communications immunity.

TITLE VIII. DISCOUNTS, UNIT VALUE, QUANTITY, AND QUALITY CHANGES

Sec. 801. Genuine reference prices.

Sec. 802. Market comparisons and savings claims.

Sec. 803. False urgency, scarcity, and social proof.

Sec. 804. Standardized unit pricing.

Sec. 805. Quantity reductions and replacement products.

Sec. 806. Manufacturer information duties.

Sec. 807. Material reductions in included features.

Sec. 808. Price history and comparison records.

Sec. 809. Materially identical necessities and gender labels.

TITLE IX. HOUSING, UTILITIES, AND COMMUNICATIONS

Sec. 901. Rental offers and move-in costs.

Sec. 902. Applications, screening, and quoted rent.

Sec. 903. Security deposits and deposit-replacement products.

Sec. 904. Lease changes, renewals, and unlawful fees.

Sec. 905. Utility rebilling and required service providers.

Sec. 906. Regulated utilities and variable energy products.

Sec. 907. Telecommunications and broadband price labels.

Sec. 908. Switching, portability, and outage credits.

TITLE X. HEALTH CARE, PHARMACY, AND INSURANCE PRICING

Sec. 1001. Coordinated estimates for scheduled care.

Sec. 1002. Estimate reliance and unapproved excess charges.

Sec. 1003. Health billing integrity.

Sec. 1004. Health-bill disputes and collection pauses.

Sec. 1005. Prescription price choice.

Sec. 1006. Insurance premiums, fees, and renewals.

Sec. 1007. Cooperation and limits on rate authority.

TITLE XI. CONSUMER CREDIT, PAYMENTS, AND FINANCIAL FEES

Sec. 1101. Financial price presentation.

Sec. 1102. Installment purchase financing.

Sec. 1103. Overdraft, declined transactions, and representment.

Sec. 1104. Late fees and credit-related penalties.

Sec. 1105. Payment authorization and retries.

Sec. 1106. Foreign exchange and remittance prices.

Sec. 1107. Financial corrections and credit information.

TITLE XII. TRAVEL, TICKETING, DELIVERY, AND TRANSPORTATION

Sec. 1201. Ticket offers and speculative sales.

Sec. 1202. Ticket cancellations and material changes.

Sec. 1203. Airfare and other travel prices.

Sec. 1204. Lodging, vacation rentals, and packages.

Sec. 1205. Rental vehicles, tolls, fuel, and charging.

Sec. 1206. Delivery platforms and priority services.

Sec. 1207. Motor-fuel and electric-vehicle price displays.

Sec. 1208. Nonconsensual towing and vehicle storage.

TITLE XIII. DIGITAL PURCHASES, CONNECTED PRODUCTS, REPAIR, AND VIRTUAL VALUE

Sec. 1301. Ownership, licenses, and support periods.

Sec. 1302. Removal of paid features and service sunsets.

Sec. 1303. Closed-loop digital currency and credits.

Sec. 1304. Minors and randomized paid rewards.

Sec. 1305. Automated and artificial-intelligence usage charges.

Sec. 1306. Repair estimates and access.

Sec. 1307. Warranties and optional protection plans.

TITLE XIV. HIGH-RISK TRANSACTIONS AND CONSUMER CHOICE

Sec. 1401. Motor-vehicle sales.

Sec. 1402. Education, training, and required materials.

Sec. 1403. Childcare, eldercare, and personal care.

Sec. 1404. Funeral, cemetery, and end-of-life services.

Sec. 1405. Moving, home services, and goods held for payment.

Sec. 1406. Distance-sale withdrawal for ordinary goods.

Sec. 1407. Practical payment access for essential retail purchases.

Sec. 1408. Captive-market commercial charges.

TITLE XV. RECORDS, PRIVACY, AND EVIDENCE

Sec. 1501. Proportionate recordkeeping.

Sec. 1502. Data minimization and retention limits.

Sec. 1503. Security, privilege, and confidential submissions.

Sec. 1504. Agency data use and sharing.

Sec. 1505. Consumer evidence and confidentiality terms.

Sec. 1506. Public price research and coordination risks.

TITLE XVI. AGENCIES, RULEMAKING, AND ADMINISTRATION

Sec. 1601. Express federal authority.

Sec. 1602. Sectoral authority and coordination.

Sec. 1603. Rulemaking authority and limits.

Sec. 1604. Deadlines and operative statutory duties.

Sec. 1605. Complaint and referral system.

Sec. 1606. Consumer education and business guidance.

Sec. 1607. Inspections and information demands.

TITLE XVII. ENFORCEMENT, REMEDIES, AND PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS

Sec. 1701. Civil enforcement and burden of proof.

Sec. 1702. Judicial adjudication and investigative review.

Sec. 1703. Express monetary and equitable remedies.

Sec. 1704. Civil penalties.

Sec. 1705. Coordination and no duplicate recovery.

Sec. 1706. State and tribal public enforcement.

Sec. 1707. Private right of action.

Sec. 1708. Nonwaiver and arbitration.

Sec. 1709. Limitation periods and tolling.

Sec. 1710. Responsible individuals, successors, and insolvency.

Sec. 1711. Whistleblowers and anti-retaliation.

Sec. 1712. Corrective relief and essential access.

TITLE XVIII. SMALL-BUSINESS COMPLIANCE AND LAWFUL INNOVATION

Sec. 1801. Compliance assistance.

Sec. 1802. First technical violation cure.

Sec. 1803. Model forms and advisory opinions.

Sec. 1804. Phased technical compliance.

Sec. 1805. Lawful business practices.

TITLE XIX. FUNDING, EVALUATION, AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY

Sec. 1901. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 1902. Allocations and eligible uses.

Sec. 1903. Consumer redress and penalty accounting.

Sec. 1904. Consolidated annual report and independent review.

Sec. 1905. Inflation adjustment.

Sec. 1906. Five-year policy review.

TITLE XX. FEDERALISM, LEGAL COORDINATION, AND EFFECTIVE DATES

Sec. 2001. National floor and interpretive rules.

Sec. 2002. Express coordination with other federal laws.

Sec. 2003. Public entities and sovereign immunity.

Sec. 2004. Nondelegation of core policy and judicial review.

Sec. 2005. Severability.

Sec. 2006. Effective dates and transition.

Sec. 2007. Budget execution and continuing rights.

SEC. 101. PURPOSES AND RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

(a) PURPOSES. The purposes of this Act are to protect consumers against deceptive or exploitative pricing; enable meaningful price and value comparisons; prevent unauthorized charges and obstruction of refunds or cancellation; preserve independent competition; and establish administrable national minimum protections.

(b) CONSUMER RIGHTS AND COMPETITION. This Act shall be construed to protect the rights expressly established by its provisions without prohibiting independent price reductions, legitimate innovation, or commercially reasonable practices that comply with those provisions.

(c) NO GENERAL PRICE CONTROL. Except for the express restrictions on essential-goods pricing, emergency prices, and specified charges established by this Act, this Act does not establish a general ceiling on prices, profits, wages, or lawful returns on investment.

(d) DISCLOSURE NOT A DEFENSE. Disclosure, consumer consent, a contractual provision, an industry practice, or the use of an automated system does not authorize a charge or practice prohibited by this Act.

SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) AGENCY. The term “agency” means a Federal agency assigned authority under title XVI.

(2) ALGORITHMIC PRICING SYSTEM. The term “algorithmic pricing system” means a computational system that materially determines, recommends, personalizes, or changes a price, discount, fee, concession, or price-related offer ranking. The term does not include a system used solely to calculate an independently established price, applicable tax, unit conversion, or lawful discount.

(3) BUSINESS DAY. The term “business day” means a day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a Federal legal holiday. Unless otherwise specified, a reference to days means calendar days.

(4) CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS. The term “clear and conspicuous” means difficult to miss, understandable to the intended audience, available before a decision to which the information relates, accessible under section 209, and presented in the same medium and language as the material offer. A disclosure shall not be contradicted or materially obscured by another representation.

(5) COMMISSION. The term “Commission” means the Federal Trade Commission.

(6) CONSUMER. The term “consumer” means a natural person acting primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, including a prospective purchaser, tenant, patient, borrower, or subscriber. For a generally available good or service sold under a standard-form agreement, the term also includes an eligible small purchaser, except where a provision necessarily applies only to a natural person.

(7) COVERED PERSON. The term “covered person” means a person engaged in commercial activity that offers, advertises, supplies, finances, arranges, facilitates, bills for, or collects payment for a covered transaction, including a commercial nonprofit enterprise and a person providing a pricing, payment, or marketplace service. The term includes a public enterprise only to the extent specified in section 2003.

(8) COVERED TRANSACTION. The term “covered transaction” means the purchase, rental, lease, license, subscription, financing, or other acquisition of a good, service, housing interest, digital entitlement, or consumer financial or insurance product in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce.

(9) ELIGIBLE SMALL PURCHASER. The term “eligible small purchaser” means an independently controlled enterprise with fewer than 50 full-time-equivalent employees and annual consolidated gross receipts not exceeding $10,000,000, adjusted under section 1905. The term excludes a purchaser acquiring goods for resale, substantial manufacturing inputs, securities for investment, or a business through a negotiated acquisition.

(10) ESSENTIAL GOOD OR SERVICE. The term “essential good or service” has the meaning given in section 601.

(11) FIRST PRICE REPRESENTATION. The term “first price representation” means the earliest communication by or on behalf of a covered person stating a price for an identified good, service, category, or offer, including an advertisement, shelf label, menu, search result, map, quote, voice response, chatbot response, or subscription solicitation.

(12) GOVERNMENT CHARGE. The term “government charge” means a tax, duty, or assessment imposed by law on the transaction or consumer and actually payable to a governmental body. A private charge for regulatory compliance, a concession payment, or a charge retained by a seller is not a government charge merely because it relates to a governmental requirement.

(13) LARGE COVERED PERSON. The term “large covered person” means a covered person having annual United States gross receipts of at least $100,000,000, adjusted under section 1905, or at least 1,000,000 paid consumer transactions in the preceding calendar year, aggregated under section 104.

(14) MANDATORY CHARGE. The term “mandatory charge” means an amount a consumer must pay to obtain the offer as presented, including a required payment to an affiliate or third party. An amount is mandatory if avoiding it requires foregoing an advertised material function, satisfying an undisclosed condition, or using an option not reasonably available to the consumer. A genuinely refundable deposit and a contingent charge under section 204 are not mandatory charges included in the total price, but remain subject to separate disclosure.

(15) MARKETPLACE. The term “marketplace” means a service that facilitates covered transactions between consumers and third-party sellers by controlling transaction listings, ordering, payment, or transaction completion. A service that solely transmits communications without controlling those functions is not a marketplace solely for that reason.

(16) MATERIAL. The term “material” means reasonably likely to affect a consumer’s economic decision, legal obligation, or ability to obtain the benefit of a transaction.

(17) OPTIONAL CHARGE. The term “optional charge” means an amount for a genuinely additional good or service that is not necessary to obtain the offer as presented, is not preselected, and is affirmatively selected after disclosure of its price.

(18) PERSONAL DATA. The term “personal data” means information reasonably linked or linkable to a natural person, household, account, device, or persistent identifier, including an inference drawn from that information.

(19) PRICING INTERMEDIARY. The term “pricing intermediary” means a person providing data, software, recommendations, model training, consulting, or other assistance that materially influences another person’s prices or commercial supply decisions.

(20) PUBLIC BASELINE PRICE. The term “public baseline price” means the contemporaneous total price genuinely available to consumers purchasing the same configuration through the same channel and fulfillment location without surveillance-based personalization. A purported baseline not offered in good faith is not a public baseline price.

(21) RECURRING ARRANGEMENT. The term “recurring arrangement” means an agreement under which a consumer incurs successive charges unless the consumer cancels or acts to prevent renewal. Its application is limited as provided in section 408.

(22) SENSITIVE DATA. The term “sensitive data” means information concerning race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, health, genetic or biometric identity, immigration status, precise geolocation, financial distress, eligibility for public assistance, status as a minor, or other characteristics protected by applicable civil-rights law. The term includes inferences and deliberately selected substitutes for such information.

(23) SMALL COVERED PERSON. The term “small covered person” means a covered person with fewer than 50 full-time-equivalent employees and annual consolidated gross receipts not exceeding $10,000,000, adjusted under section 1905 and aggregated under section 104.

(24) SURVEILLANCE PRICING. The term “surveillance pricing” means using personal data or an inference about a consumer’s willingness or ability to pay, urgency, vulnerability, or likelihood of comparison shopping to increase a price, withhold an otherwise available lower price, or steer the consumer away from a materially equivalent lower-priced offer.

(25) TOTAL PRICE. The term “total price” means the complete nonrefundable amount payable for the goods, services, quantity, duration, and conditions specified in the representation, including mandatory charges and government charges calculable under section 202. It does not include genuinely optional charges not selected, future contingent charges, or consumption not included in the stated offer.

(26) STATE. The term “State” includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each territory or possession of the United States.

SEC. 103. COMMERCE AND TERRITORIAL APPLICATION.

(a) NEXUS. This Act applies to covered conduct in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, including conduct using interstate communications, payment systems, distribution, or commercial supplies.

(b) FOREIGN CONDUCT. A foreign covered person is subject to this Act when the person purposefully offers a covered transaction to a consumer in the United States or engages in conduct causing direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable consumer injury in the United States. This subsection does not regulate a transaction occurring wholly abroad without that nexus.

(c) DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS. Duties apply without regard to whether an offer is made in person, through an intermediary, by an automated agent, or through another medium.

(d) TAXES AND PUBLIC SANCTIONS. This Act does not govern the amount or validity of a governmental tax, criminal fine, civil sanction imposed by a government, or court-ordered obligation. A private enterprise may not invoke this exclusion for its own charges.

SEC. 104. ATTRIBUTION, AFFILIATES, AND ANTI-EVASION.

(a) AGGREGATION. For revenue and employee thresholds, entities under common control shall be aggregated. Control means ownership of more than 50 percent of voting interests or actual authority to direct the relevant business operations.

(b) FRANCHISES. A common brand or franchise agreement alone does not establish control. A franchisor remains responsible for a pricing system, fee, or representation that it requires, controls, or knowingly causes.

(c) EVASION. A covered person shall not evade this Act through an affiliate, nominally separate transaction, alternate merchant identifier, artificial product substitution, required membership, bundled charge, contractual designation, or delegation to an automated system.

(d) ATTRIBUTION. A person is responsible for its own conduct and conduct it authorizes or knowingly directs. Mere ownership, employment, investment, or provision of general-purpose infrastructure does not by itself establish liability for another person’s violation.

SEC. 105. INFORMED AFFIRMATIVE CONSENT.

(a) STANDARD. Where this Act requires consent, the covered person shall obtain an unambiguous affirmative action after a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the specific charge or material change. Silence, inactivity, a preselected option, acceptance of unrelated terms, or consent obtained through material deception does not constitute consent.

(b) PROOF. The covered person shall preserve evidence sufficient to establish the disclosed terms, time, method, and affirmative action, without retaining unnecessary personal data.

(c) AUTHENTICATION. Authentication shall be proportionate to the risk of unauthorized action. A covered person shall not demand a government identification document or sensitive information merely to create friction where less intrusive verification is reasonably adequate.

SEC. 106. INDEPENDENT STATUTORY DUTIES.

A duty or prohibition expressly established by this Act is independently enforceable under title XVII. Unless the applicable provision states otherwise, enforcement does not require a prior administrative order, a separately promulgated rule, or proof of all elements of a claim under another consumer-protection statute.

SEC. 201. ALL-IN FIRST PRICE.

(a) RULE. A covered person making a price representation shall state the total price at the first price representation and at each subsequent point at which a consumer is invited to select or purchase the offer.

(b) PROMINENCE. The total price shall be more prominent than a base price or component subtotal. A required unit price, refundable-deposit disclosure, or total due at authorization may receive equal prominence where necessary for an accurate comparison. A base price excluding a mandatory charge shall not be the dominant price representation.

(c) ITEMIZATION. A covered person may itemize components without obscuring the total price or implying that a privately imposed component is beyond the seller’s control.

(d) NO POSTPONEMENT. Disclosure in terms of service, a tooltip, an expandable field, a separate hyperlink, or after collection of payment credentials does not satisfy this section for a material mandatory charge.

SEC. 202. TAXES, LOCATION, AND GENUINELY UNDETERMINABLE AMOUNTS.

(a) KNOWN AMOUNTS. A government charge shall be included when the transaction location and other facts necessary for calculation are known or reasonably available. A physical retailer shall ordinarily use the taxes applicable at that establishment.

(b) MISSING INFORMATION. If a charge cannot reasonably be calculated without information not yet available, the initial representation shall identify the missing fact and disclose an accurate calculation method or clearly labeled estimate. The covered person shall request no more information than reasonably necessary and display the complete total before requesting payment credentials or binding acceptance.

(c) NOT A TOTAL. A price excluding an undetermined mandatory amount shall not be labeled a final, complete, or all-in total.

(d) GEOGRAPHIC ADVERTISING. An advertisement directed to multiple tax jurisdictions may state a genuinely attainable tax-inclusive price identified with the applicable location or a clearly labeled representative estimate. A “from” price shall be available for a reasonably adequate supply or shall identify the actual limited quantity and material conditions.

(e) NO ARTIFICIAL UNCERTAINTY. A covered person may not create uncertainty by withholding information it possesses, separating affiliated charges, or refusing to calculate a standard fee.

SEC. 203. SHIPPING, DELIVERY, BASKETS, AND FULFILLMENT.

(a) STANDALONE OFFERS. A representation of an individually purchasable item shall include the least expensive reasonably available mandatory fulfillment method for that offer. A purported free-pickup alternative is not reasonably available if it is practically inaccessible to the audience to which the offer is directed.

(b) MULTI-ITEM ORDERS. A covered person may assess a disclosed order-level delivery charge once rather than allocate it repeatedly among items. The running basket total shall include that charge, and item displays shall identify the order-level charge or its calculation before selection.

(c) CHANGES. A consumer’s selection of a different destination, expedited delivery, quantity, or fulfillment method may change the total only to the extent attributable to that selection and disclosed before confirmation.

(d) UNAVAILABLE METHODS. A seller shall not advertise a lower price based on a fulfillment option that it does not in good faith make available.

SEC. 204. DEPOSITS, HOLDS, AND CONTINGENT CHARGES.

(a) DISTINCT AMOUNTS. A genuinely refundable deposit or payment authorization hold shall be stated separately from the total price. The maximum amount initially charged or made unavailable to the consumer shall be prominently identified as the “total due or held at authorization”.

(b) TERMS. Before authorization, the seller shall disclose the purpose, amount, release conditions, expected release time, and circumstances permitting a deduction.

(c) CONTINGENCIES. A late fee, damage charge, cancellation charge, or other contingent charge shall be separately disclosed with its triggering conditions and maximum amount or objective formula. An event certain to occur in the ordinary transaction may not be characterized as contingent.

(d) DEPOSIT CHARACTER. An amount routinely retained, credited only toward an additional purchase, or forfeited without an objectively stated condition is not a genuinely refundable deposit.

SEC. 205. USAGE, ESTIMATES, AND SPENDING LIMITS.

(a) VARIABLE USAGE. A metered or usage-based offer shall disclose the unit rate, billing increment, minimum charge, applicable thresholds, recurring fixed charges, and the conditions for changing those rates.

(b) ESTIMATE. A seller shall provide a good-faith estimate based on the consumer’s selected quantity, duration, route, or other relevant facts. The estimate shall state its assumptions and distinguish a nonbinding estimate from a binding quotation.

(c) DIGITAL LIMITS. A remotely supplied usage-based service capable of real-time metering shall permit a consumer to set a spending limit and shall provide alerts at 80 percent and 100 percent of that limit. Absent separate consent, the seller shall not charge for usage above the limit.

(d) SAFETY. Subsection (c) does not require interruption of emergency communications, medically necessary service, or a regulated utility where interruption would violate law or create imminent danger. The seller shall apply an available protective billing limit or notify the consumer and appropriate regulator rather than treat this exception as consent to unlimited charges.

SEC. 206. CONDITIONAL PRICES, FINANCING, AND REBATES.

(a) CONDITIONS. A member, coupon, student, military, employee, income-based, or other conditional price may be displayed only with equally prominent eligibility conditions and any charge necessary to qualify.

(b) COMPARISON. The generally available total price shall be reasonably visible alongside a conditional offer. A logged-in consumer known to qualify may be shown the qualifying total as the principal price.

(c) REBATES. A post-purchase rebate shall not be subtracted from the amount represented as payable at checkout. Its amount, application requirements, deadline, and payment timing shall be separately disclosed.

(d) FINANCING. A periodic installment amount shall not obscure the cash price, amount financed, number of payments, mandatory credit charges, or total scheduled payments. An annual percentage rate shall be calculated under applicable Federal credit law, including title XI of this Act, and not under a competing formula created by marketing terminology.

SEC. 207. BINDING QUOTES AND CHANGES IN SCOPE.

(a) BINDING QUOTE. A price expressly represented as a fixed quote shall bind the covered person for its stated validity period and described scope.

(b) CHANGE ORDERS. An increase based on a requested change in scope requires a separate description of the additional work and affirmative consent to its price before performance.

(c) NECESSARY EMERGENCY WORK. Prior consent is not required for the minimum additional work objectively necessary to prevent imminent serious injury or substantial property damage where the consumer cannot reasonably be reached. The provider shall document the necessity, efforts to obtain consent, and reasonable cost.

(d) MANIFEST ERROR. A covered person may rescind a quote resulting from an objectively obvious clerical error that a reasonable consumer would recognize as erroneous. A change in demand, supplier price, profit expectations, or ordinary software output is not such an error. The covered person bears the burden of establishing the exception and shall promptly return all payments and reimburse reasonably foreseeable reliance losses caused by its negligence.

SEC. 208. SHELF, SCANNER, AND TRANSACTION INTEGRITY.

(a) LOWER APPLICABLE PRICE. When a current shelf, menu, or digital label for the selected item differs from the checkout price, the seller shall honor the lower applicable price, subject to the manifest-error exception in section 207(d).

(b) CORRECTION. A seller discovering a systemic discrepancy shall correct the display and billing system and refund identifiable overcharges without requiring each consumer to complain.

(c) WEIGHT AND ROUNDING. A seller shall not include packaging tare in the quantity sold by net weight or systematically round amounts upward contrary to the represented unit calculation. Lawful neutral cash rounding may be used if disclosed and applied symmetrically.

SEC. 209. ACCESSIBILITY AND LANGUAGES.

(a) FUNCTIONAL ACCESS. Material price information shall be readable by commonly used assistive technologies, operable without a pointing device where digitally interactive, and available in an effective alternative format on request without charge.

(b) MEDIUM. A seller shall not require a smartphone, quick-response code, app download, account creation, or marketing consent to obtain information that must be displayed under this Act.

(c) LANGUAGE. Material disclosures shall be supplied in each language used by the seller to make the relevant offer or negotiate the transaction. This subsection does not require a business to advertise in a language it does not otherwise use.

(d) STANDARDS. The Commission, after consultation with the Department of Justice and the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, shall establish technical standards consistent with the functional duties in this section.

SEC. 210. CONSUMER-DIRECTED COMPARISON AND PRICE DATA.

(a) CURRENT DATA. A large covered person selling digitally shall make the current total price, mandatory components, unit information, material conditions, and availability of an offer available in a standardized machine-readable format.

(b) ACCESS. A seller shall not block a lawful consumer-directed comparison tool solely because it compares prices or helps the consumer exercise rights under this Act. Reasonable, nondiscriminatory authentication, rate limits, and cybersecurity measures remain permissible.

(c) LIMITS. This section does not require disclosure of source code, future pricing intentions, nonpublic costs, personal data, or a competitor’s confidential information. It does not authorize unauthorized access to a computer system.

(d) STANDARDS AND SCALE. The Commission shall prescribe interoperable formats, reasonable update intervals, and implementation methods proportionate to transaction volume. The Commission may exempt a narrow product category where disclosure would create a demonstrated security or coordination risk that cannot reasonably be mitigated.

SEC. 301. PROHIBITED CHARGES.

(a) PROHIBITIONS. A covered person shall not impose or collect a charge for a good or service not ordered, not supplied, already paid for, or represented as included; a fictitious administrative or governmental function; correction of the person’s own billing error; submission of a good-faith dispute; or exercise of a right established by this Act.

(b) FEE ON FEE. A covered person shall not calculate a late charge, default charge, collection surcharge, or similar penalty on a prior fee rather than an unpaid lawful charge for the underlying transaction.

(c) DUPLICATION. A covered person shall not recover the same cost or loss more than once through a fee, retained deposit, insurance recovery, indemnity, or payment by another consumer.

(d) CONSEQUENCE. A charge prohibited by this Act is void and uncollectible. Removal of such a charge does not extinguish lawful principal, rent, or payment for a properly supplied good or service.

SEC. 302. OPTIONAL EXTRAS AND GRATUITIES.

(a) EXTRAS. An optional extra requires affirmative consent to its separate price. Accepting an offer shall not automatically enroll the consumer in insurance, a warranty, expedited service, a donation, a paid membership, or another separately charged product.

(b) GRATUITIES. A voluntary gratuity shall default to zero, offer an equally accessible no-tip choice, and identify its intended recipient. A mandatory service charge shall be included in the total price and shall not be represented as a voluntary gratuity.

(c) DISTRIBUTION. A seller shall truthfully disclose whether a service charge is retained by the business or distributed to workers. A gratuity represented as paid to workers shall be so paid, without reducing an independently promised payment owed by the seller to those workers. This subsection does not alter a lawful tip pool or reduce a right under wage-and-hour law.

(d) NO MANIPULATION. Declining an optional charge shall not require materially more steps, waiting, or unrelated information than accepting it.

SEC. 303. PAYMENT-METHOD CHARGES.

(a) CEILING. A payment-method surcharge shall not exceed the seller’s documented incremental cost of accepting that method, averaged over a reasonable period not exceeding 12 months. Ordinary overhead, advertising, rent, and profit are not incremental acceptance costs.

(b) DISPLAY. The surcharge and any fee-free method shall be disclosed before the consumer selects a payment method. If no reasonably available fee-free method exists, the minimum applicable surcharge shall be included in the first total price.

(c) REALISTIC ALTERNATIVE. A fee-free method shall be usable through the transaction channel without unreasonable delay, travel, or loss of a material benefit.

(d) SAVINGS. Nothing in this section authorizes a surcharge prohibited by another law, a lawful payment-network rule, or a merchant agreement. A seller may offer a genuine, clearly identified payment-method discount consistent with this Act.

SEC. 304. CONTINGENT FEES AND CLAIMS FOR DAMAGE.

(a) REASONABLE BASIS. Except where another provision imposes a lower ceiling, a contingent cancellation, return, late-payment, or damage charge shall not exceed the reasonable documented net cost or loss caused by the triggering event. Reasonable cost allocation may be used where individual calculation is impracticable, but shall exclude unrelated overhead and expected profit on future unsupplied service.

(b) DAMAGE. A claim for physical damage shall identify the item, evidence of the condition before and after the transaction where reasonably available, the repair or depreciated replacement cost, and any offsetting recovery. Ordinary wear is not damage.

(c) HOLDS. A seller shall direct release of an authorization hold within 2 business days after the purpose of the hold ends, unless a timely itemized claim justifies retaining a specified portion. The seller shall not retain the undisputed portion to pressure settlement of a disputed claim. Housing security deposits are governed by section 903.

(d) NO LEGISLATIVE PENALTY BY CONTRACT. Labeling a charge “liquidated damages” does not defeat a restriction expressly established by this Act. Nothing in this section invalidates a lower lawful charge or a consumer remedy under contract law.

SEC. 305. ITEMIZED AND DURABLE RECEIPTS.

(a) CONTENT. A receipt or account statement shall identify the seller and any collecting marketplace; the goods or services and quantity; total price; taxes; mandatory and optional components; discounts; deposits or holds; recurring obligations; and an accessible method to dispute a charge or request a refund.

(b) AVAILABILITY. A consumer shall be able to obtain and retain the receipt without paying a fee, consenting to marketing, or opening a new account. An in-person seller shall provide a paper receipt on request unless the consumer accepts an effective alternative.

(c) ACCURACY. A receipt shall not introduce a charge or contractual restriction not properly disclosed before the transaction.

SEC. 306. BILLING DISPUTES.

(a) SUBMISSION. A consumer may dispute a charge through any reasonable written or electronic channel offered for account service. A covered person shall provide at least one free written or electronic channel and an accessible alternative for a consumer unable to use it.

(b) RESPONSE. The covered person shall acknowledge receipt within 5 business days and provide a reasoned decision, supporting records, and any corrective credit within 30 days. One extension of not more than 15 days is permitted on written explanation of a specific need to obtain third-party records.

(c) INTERIM PROTECTION. During a timely, good-faith dispute, the covered person shall not impose additional charges on the disputed amount, refer that amount for collection, furnish adverse credit information concerning that amount, or terminate an ongoing essential service solely for nonpayment of that amount. The consumer remains responsible for undisputed lawful charges.

(d) ABUSE. After a reasoned determination supported by records, a substantially identical repeat submission without new evidence need not restart the periods in this section. This exception does not permit retaliation or rejection of a first dispute based solely on the amount or frequency of the consumer’s prior successful disputes.

(e) EXISTING RIGHTS. A dispute under this section is not mandatory exhaustion before suit and does not shorten a period or reduce a protection under the Truth in Lending Act, Electronic Fund Transfer Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, or other law.

SEC. 307. REFUND DEADLINES AND METHODS.

(a) DUE DATE. A refund required by this Act shall be initiated within 7 business days after the facts establishing entitlement have occurred and the consumer has supplied any notice or return reasonably required by law, or within 20 days if the original payment was by cash or check. A seller’s refusal to acknowledge an established entitlement does not postpone the deadline. A shorter deadline expressly established elsewhere controls.

(b) FORM. The refund shall use the original payment method unless impossible or the consumer affirmatively chooses another method. A seller shall not substitute store credit, a voucher, loyalty points, or an expiring credit without that choice.

(c) PAYMENT CHAIN. A marketplace, processor, or financial institution receiving a refund instruction shall transmit or credit the amount within 3 business days after receipt, subject to a shorter applicable requirement. A covered person shall not delay its own required action because another participant has not reimbursed it.

(d) COMPONENTS. A required full refund includes mandatory fees and taxes collected for the refunded transaction. A proportionate refund shall include the corresponding portion of mandatory charges.

(e) CUSTOMER NOTICE. The seller shall provide a confirmation showing the amount, method, initiation date, and reasonably anticipated posting period.

SEC. 308. SYSTEMIC ERRORS AND UNAUTHORIZED COLLECTION.

(a) AFFIRMATIVE CORRECTION. On discovering a systemic unlawful overcharge, the responsible covered person shall identify reasonably ascertainable affected consumers, stop the practice, and issue required refunds without requiring individual claims.

(b) IDENTIFICATION. Reasonable identification shall use existing transaction records. This subsection does not require creation of new consumer profiles or collection of sensitive data.

(c) ASSIGNMENT. A covered person shall not sell, assign, securitize, or relabel an unlawful charge to evade its invalidity. A collector given credible notice of the violation shall investigate and cease collection of the disputed unlawful component pending resolution.

(d) LARGE INCIDENTS. A large covered person shall notify the responsible agency within 30 days after determining that a systemic pricing or billing violation affected at least 10,000 consumers or involved at least $1,000,000 in aggregate unlawful charges. Notification is not an admission as to disputed additional liability and does not replace individual notice or refunds.

SEC. 309. RETALIATION AND REVIEW SUPPRESSION.

A covered person shall not increase a price, revoke an otherwise available benefit, obstruct account access, threaten an unsupported collection action, or condition a refund on silence because a consumer made a good-faith complaint, supplied evidence to an agency, consulted counsel, or published a truthful review. A settlement may protect legitimately confidential personal or business information, but shall not prevent reporting a suspected violation to a public authority.

SEC. 401. ENROLLMENT AND RECURRING CONSENT.

(a) SEPARATE CHOICE. Before entering a recurring arrangement, a seller shall obtain affirmative consent specifically to recurring charges, separate from acceptance of unrelated terms.

(b) REQUIRED TERMS. The seller shall disclose the amount and frequency of charges; first payment date; minimum commitment and total minimum obligation; trial conversion terms; cancellation procedure; and any disclosed variable-rate formula.

(c) ANNUAL COMPARISON. For a fixed recurring price billed more often than annually, the seller shall state the equivalent cost over 12 months, identifying any assumption concerning continuation. An illustration shall not imply that a cancelable arrangement requires a 12-month commitment.

(d) CONFIRMATION. The consumer shall promptly receive a durable confirmation containing the required terms and a direct cancellation method.

SEC. 402. TRIALS, RENEWAL NOTICES, AND REMINDERS.

(a) TRIALS. For a trial lasting 7 through 29 days, a seller shall provide a reminder at least 3 days before the first paid charge. For a trial lasting 30 days or longer, the reminder shall be provided at least 7 days before that charge. A trial shorter than 7 days shall not convert to paid service without a fresh affirmative choice made after enrollment.

(b) ANNUAL RENEWALS. A seller shall send notice not fewer than 30 and not more than 60 days before renewal of a commitment lasting one year or longer. The notice shall state the amount, renewal date, deadline to avoid the charge, and direct cancellation method.

(c) CONTINUING ARRANGEMENTS. At least annually, a seller shall provide a statement of the consumer’s recurring arrangements with that seller, amounts paid during the preceding year, current charges, and cancellation methods.

(d) DELIVERY. A notice shall use the consumer’s designated service channel and shall not be disguised as advertising. A seller shall make reasonable use of another existing channel if it receives actual notice of nondelivery, without collecting additional contact information unnecessarily.

SEC. 403. PRICE INCREASES AND MATERIAL REDUCTIONS.

(a) NOTICE AND CHOICE. A seller proposing a price increase or material reduction of included benefits shall provide at least 30 days’ notice and obtain affirmative consent before charging the increased amount or renewing on the reduced terms.

(b) NO FORCED ACCEPTANCE. Continued use before the change takes effect does not alone constitute consent. A seller may elect not to renew an expiring arrangement after adequate notice, but may not characterize nonresponse as acceptance of a higher charge.

(c) PREPAID PERIOD. A seller shall honor the agreed price and material benefits during a prepaid commitment unless the consumer agrees to a change or a narrowly tailored change is necessary to comply with law or address a substantial security threat. Section 1302 governs associated digital-service remedies.

(d) PUBLIC CHARGES. A newly imposed tax may be passed through without separate affirmative consent if legally applicable, accurately itemized, and promptly disclosed. This exception does not extend to a seller-created “tax recovery” charge.

SEC. 404. CANCELLATION WITHOUT OBSTRUCTION.

(a) ACCESS. A consumer shall be able to cancel through each channel through which the seller permits enrollment or, at the consumer’s election, through a simple online mechanism where the seller maintains an online service.

(b) STEPS. After proportionate authentication, online cancellation shall require no more than two affirmative actions. Authentication shall not be repeated unnecessarily or combined with an unrelated sales process.

(c) PROHIBITED CONDITIONS. Cancellation shall not require a telephone call, in-person visit, mailed letter, survey, retention conversation, statement of reasons, or acceptance of another offer if enrollment did not require the same medium and the consumer elects the available online mechanism.

(d) EFFECT. A seller shall immediately acknowledge cancellation and state the last authorized charge, date of termination, and any refund. A consumer may choose to stop renewal while retaining paid access through the current term.

SEC. 405. PREPAYMENTS, BUNDLES, AND EXIT CHARGES.

(a) UNUSED PERIODS. A consumer who requests immediate termination of a prepaid recurring arrangement with more than 30 days remaining shall receive a proportionate refund for the unused period, less any specifically disclosed, reasonable, nonrecoverable setup cost not previously recovered. A deduction may not exceed 10 percent of the unused prepaid balance.

(b) NO RETROACTIVE REPRICING. A seller shall not recalculate past service at a higher undisclosed monthly rate, claw back a previously earned discount, or add a cancellation penalty to defeat subsection (a).

(c) BUNDLES. Cancellation of one component may prospectively change the price of retained components only if the resulting prices were clearly disclosed and the consumer is permitted to cancel the affected components without an additional penalty.

(d) EXCLUSIONS. Subsection (a) does not require a refund for a completed service, custom good, or separately reserved date-specific service excluded under section 1406.

SEC. 406. HARDSHIP, DEATH, AND SERVICE FAILURE.

(a) TERMINATION. A consumer or authorized representative may terminate a recurring arrangement without an exit charge upon the consumer’s death, a material disability making the service unusable, or a permanent move outside the seller’s service area, when the seller cannot provide substantially equivalent service.

(b) VERIFICATION. The seller may request reasonable verification but shall not require a detailed diagnosis, immigration information, or information unrelated to eligibility.

(c) FAILURE TO SUPPLY. If a seller fails to supply a material part of a recurring service for a substantial period, the consumer may elect a proportionate refund, restoration within a reasonable period, or termination of the affected arrangement. The seller may not substitute an extension of service for a requested monetary refund without consent.

SEC. 407. INTERMEDIARIES AND PAYMENT AUTHORITY.

(a) COMMON ENTRY POINT. A marketplace that enrolls or bills a consumer for a recurring arrangement shall accept cancellation and transmit it promptly to the supplier. The consumer shall not be required to identify which enterprise internally controls renewal.

(b) NO CIRCUMVENTION. After cancellation or revocation of payment authority, a covered person shall not initiate the same recurring charge through a replacement token, alternate merchant identifier, affiliate, or new account number.

(c) UNDERLYING OBLIGATION. Revocation of a payment method does not by itself discharge a lawful debt, but cancellation of service terminates future service charges as provided in this title.

SEC. 408. SECTORAL LIMITATIONS.

(a) EXCLUDED OBLIGATIONS. Automatic loan repayments, residential tenancies, insurance policies, regulated utility service, and legally required public-benefit contributions are not subject to the generic termination and automatic-conversion provisions of this title. Their fees, disclosures, disputes, and cancellation rights remain governed by other applicable titles and law.

(b) ANTI-EVASION. A seller may not evade this title by characterizing an ordinary entertainment, software, fitness, retail membership, or similar subscription as credit, insurance, or a tenancy.

(c) STRONGER RIGHTS. This title does not reduce an existing cancellation, rescission, refund, or cooling-off right.

SEC. 501. PROHIBITION ON SURVEILLANCE PRICING.

(a) PROHIBITION. A covered person shall not engage in surveillance pricing, purchase a surveillance-derived price recommendation, or knowingly provide data or a system for that purpose.

(b) COVERED SIGNALS. Prohibited uses include pricing based on browsing or search history; cross-service purchasing history; device value or battery state; inferred wealth or desperation; cursor movements; time spent considering an offer; repeated visits; abandonment of a cart; or another personal signal used to infer willingness to pay or inability to comparison shop.

(c) EQUIVALENT EVASION. A covered person shall not accomplish a prohibited increase by selectively hiding a public offer, removing an otherwise qualifying discount, changing fees, worsening a materially equivalent bundle, or assigning the consumer to a proxy segment.

(d) NO CONSENT WAIVER. Acceptance of tracking, a privacy policy, or a nominally personalized experience does not waive this prohibition.

SEC. 502. SENSITIVE DATA AND PRIVACY CHOICES.

(a) PRICING USE. A covered person shall not use sensitive data or a deliberately selected proxy to increase a price, deny a lower public price, or exploit vulnerability.

(b) PRIVACY REFUSAL. A covered person shall not increase a price or reduce an otherwise available service solely because a consumer refuses advertising tracking, sale of data, unnecessary location access, a marketing subscription, or surveillance-based personalization.

(c) BENEFICIAL PROGRAMS. A genuine, voluntarily requested discount, subsidy, or accommodation based on disability, age, military service, student status, income eligibility, or another lawful objective criterion is permitted if it reduces the applicable public baseline price, uses no more information than necessary, and is not conditioned on unrelated data exploitation.

(d) CIVIL RIGHTS. Nothing in this title authorizes a distinction prohibited by civil-rights, fair-housing, fair-lending, insurance, disability, or other applicable law.

SEC. 503. PERMITTED PRICING AND UNDERWRITING.

(a) NONPERSONAL FACTORS. Except as limited by title VI, a seller may independently change a public price based on time, inventory, input costs, fulfillment location, or aggregate market demand, provided that the practice complies with this Act and competition law.

(b) DISCOUNTS. Genuine coupons, publicly described loyalty points, negotiated reductions, employee discounts, and independently chosen promotions are permitted. A seller shall not inflate a fictitious public baseline to disguise a surveillance price as a discount.

(c) NECESSARY LOCATION. Use of the actual fulfillment location to calculate taxes, delivery cost, or a generally applicable establishment price is not surveillance pricing. A consumer’s precise location may not be used to infer personal desperation or willingness to pay.

(d) UNDERWRITING. A provider of credit or insurance may use a verified factor independently permitted by applicable law and reasonably necessary to assess repayment or insured risk. This exception does not permit use of browsing behavior, device characteristics, vulnerability, shopping persistence, or a privacy refusal to estimate willingness to pay. The provider shall document the factor’s risk-related purpose and comply with applicable explanation and nondiscrimination requirements.

(e) NO COMPULSORY COLLECTION. A covered person shall not collect sensitive data merely to demonstrate that it did not use such data.

SEC. 504. NOTICE OF PERMITTED VARIABLE PRICING.

(a) NOTICE. A seller using a price that may change during an active shopping session shall disclose that fact at the first price representation, identify the principal nonpersonal factors involved, and state the applicable price-lock period.

(b) CONTENT. The disclosure shall be short, factual, and specific to the practice. A generic statement that “prices may vary” does not adequately describe an undisclosed individualized fee or excuse conduct prohibited by this title.

(c) NO FALSE CLAIM. A seller shall not represent a variable price as fixed, a scarcity premium as a tax, or a personalized offer as the generally available lowest price.

SEC. 505. PRICE LOCKS AND INVENTORY.

(a) TRIGGER. After a consumer selects an identified configuration and quantity and begins checkout, or places the identified offer in an active cart, the seller shall preserve the offered total for at least 30 minutes. For a dated ticket, lodging reservation, transportation seat, or other genuinely scarce date-specific inventory, the minimum period is 15 minutes.

(b) NOTICE. The seller shall display the expiration time and whether inventory is actually reserved. Preserving a price does not by itself require reserving inventory for an abandoned cart.

(c) CHANGES. An increase attributable solely to the consumer’s affirmative change in quantity, destination, dates, optional services, or tax-relevant facts is permitted after a revised total is disclosed. A seller’s demand change or algorithmic recommendation is not a consumer change.

(d) UNAVAILABILITY. A seller may decline completion because of bona fide inventory exhaustion, but shall not fabricate exhaustion, substitute a nominally different listing, or cancel and immediately relist the same inventory at a higher price to defeat the lock.

(e) INTERRUPTIONS. A seller-caused interruption shall extend the lock by the time reasonably necessary to restore the transaction. Reasonable, nondiscriminatory protections against bots and mass inventory hoarding are permitted.

(f) LONGER RIGHTS. A longer promised lock and the housing protections in section 902 control over the minimum periods in this section.

SEC. 506. QUEUES, SESSION INTEGRITY, AND TARGETED FRICTION.

(a) QUEUES. Before admitting a consumer to a purchase queue for dynamically priced inventory, the seller shall disclose an accurate current range for the selected category, mandatory charges, and whether a later price may exceed that range. A stated maximum shall be honored during that queue session for available inventory in the selected category.

(b) NO ARTIFICIAL PRESSURE. A seller shall not create a false queue, reset a purportedly final timer, fabricate competing purchases, or use a consumer’s waiting time to personalize the price.

(c) SESSION PROTECTION. Refreshing a page, using accessibility technology, opening another tab, changing a privacy setting, or returning during an unexpired price lock shall not itself justify a higher price.

(d) MINIMIZATION. A seller shall offer a reasonable way to preserve a price lock without requiring a new marketing account or unnecessary cross-site tracking.

SEC. 507. CONSUMER EXPLANATIONS.

(a) REQUEST. Within 30 days after a consumer requests an explanation of an offered price, a covered person using an algorithmic pricing system shall state whether the system materially influenced the offer; the principal categories of factors used; whether personal data was used under a permitted exception; and the applicable public baseline price, if one exists.

(b) EXISTING RECORDS. The response shall be based on records reasonably necessary for compliance and shall not require disclosure of source code, another consumer’s information, or a protected trade secret.

(c) FREQUENCY. A person may limit substantially duplicative requests to two without charge in a 12-month period, but shall respond without charge to a request concerning a new transaction or a plausible violation.

SEC. 508. IMPACT ASSESSMENTS AND CERTIFICATION.

(a) LARGE-SCALE SYSTEMS. A large covered person using a system to vary consumer prices or price-related ranking shall conduct an assessment before deployment, after a material change, and at least annually.

(b) CONTENT. The assessment shall evaluate surveillance and sensitive-data use; accuracy of notices; the availability of public baseline prices; disparate treatment prohibited by law; price-lock operation; use of competitor data; emergency safeguards; and reasonably foreseeable consumer harm.

(c) CERTIFICATION. A responsible senior officer shall certify, after reasonable inquiry, that the assessment was completed and that identified material violations have been corrected or disclosed to the responsible agency with a corrective plan. A knowingly false certification is a separate violation. Officeholding alone does not establish personal liability.

(d) SMALL SYSTEMS. Other covered persons shall maintain proportionate written controls and ordinary records sufficient to demonstrate compliance. They are not required to commission annual independent audits solely because they use a calculator, standard inventory software, or an independently set price list.

SEC. 509. INDEPENDENT AUDITS.

(a) PERIODIC AUDIT. A large covered person using a pricing system that processes personal data or sets essential-goods prices shall obtain an independent compliance audit at least once every 2 years.

(b) TARGETED ORDER. An agency may require a reasonably scoped audit of another covered person on documented grounds to believe that a system creates substantial risk of a violation. The person shall receive notice, an opportunity to contest scope, and access to judicial review under section 1702.

(c) INDEPENDENCE. An auditor shall have relevant technical competence and shall not have designed the system under review or have compensation contingent on a favorable finding.

(d) CONFIDENTIALITY. Full reports shall be available to the agency through secure procedures. A public summary shall describe material compliance findings and corrective measures without exposing personal data, source code, or competitively sensitive information.

SEC. 510. VENDOR DUTIES AND HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY.

(a) TECHNICAL CONTROLS. A pricing intermediary shall provide customers with information and controls reasonably necessary to comply with this Act, including identification of prohibited data sources, version histories, and a method to suspend unlawful outputs.

(b) NO DISCLAIMERS OF OWN CONDUCT. A vendor shall not avoid responsibility for its own prohibited data use or coordinated pricing by labeling its output a recommendation or asserting that a customer could theoretically disregard it.

(c) CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITY. A seller remains responsible for prices it adopts. Reasonable reliance on documented vendor representations may be considered in determining culpability and penalties but does not eliminate a consumer’s right to correction and refund.

(d) NO PERSONHOOD DEFENSE. A covered person shall not defend a violation solely on the ground that an automated system, rather than a natural person, selected the output.

SEC. 601. ESSENTIAL GOODS AND SERVICES.

(a) COVERED NECESSITIES. For purposes of this Act, essential goods and services are basic food and drinking water; infant formula and infant-care supplies; diapers and menstrual products; prescription and nonprescription medicines; medically necessary care and supplies; primary residential housing; emergency and displacement lodging; electricity, heating and cooking fuel, motor fuel, and basic cooling; basic telecommunications and residential internet access; childcare and eldercare; sanitation and personal hygiene necessities; emergency home repair; and ordinary nonluxury point-to-point ground transportation.

(b) FUNCTION. Classification shall depend on ordinary function and use, not a seller’s designation of a necessity as a premium, luxury, convenience, or membership product. Alcohol, tobacco, recreational intoxicants, entertainment, and genuinely luxury services are not included merely because sold with an essential good.

(c) ADDITIONS. By rule, the Commission may add a narrowly defined category on findings that interruption would materially threaten health, safety, primary shelter, or access to essential work or care; consumers ordinarily cannot reasonably defer purchase; and adequate substitutes are not reasonably available. The rule shall specify its boundaries and supporting evidence.

(d) TRANSPORTATION PRIVACY. A consumer shall not be required to disclose a medical condition, employer, immigration status, or purpose of travel to receive the protections applicable to ordinary covered transportation.

SEC. 602. ORDINARY ESSENTIAL-GOODS PRICING STABILITY.

(a) PROHIBITION. A covered person shall not increase the consumer price of an essential good or service through a surge triggered by abrupt actual or anticipated demand, a shortage, weather, a queue, or a consumer’s vulnerability. The prohibition applies whether implemented manually or by software and is not avoided by waiting 24 hours or changing a nominal base price.

(b) PERMITTED CHANGES. Subject to section 603 and emergency limits, this section permits:

(1) a bona fide scheduled public price adjustment announced at least 7 days in advance and not calculated to exploit a transient event described in subsection (a);

(2) a documented pass-through of an actual increase in reasonable unit supply, labor, transportation, or other directly attributable costs;

(3) a generally available reduction, clearance price, freshness markdown, coupon, or assistance discount, or restoration of the genuine prepromotion price on an expiration date clearly announced before the promotion began;

(4) a published public-transit fare or regulated rate specifically approved by the competent public authority; and

(5) a published time-of-use utility rate approved under section 906.

(c) SOFTWARE. Software may calculate a permitted price, apply a uniform cost adjustment, or lower a price. The use of software alone does not violate this section.

(d) WORKER COMPENSATION. This section does not limit wages or compensation paid to workers. An actual additional payment reasonably necessary to obtain labor may qualify as a documented cost under subsection (b)(2); a platform margin merely labeled a worker incentive does not.

SEC. 603. COST JUSTIFICATION AND ANTI-EVASION.

(a) DOCUMENTATION. A cost-based increase shall be supported by contemporaneous invoices, payroll records, transportation charges, or reasonably reliable equivalent business records. An estimate of replacement cost may be used only to the extent supported by a binding supply commitment or other objective evidence of an imminent actual cost.

(b) EXCLUSIONS. A charge paid to an affiliate above an arm’s-length reasonable amount, a royalty created to increase apparent costs, a speculative opportunity cost, or a profit target is not a qualifying cost increase.

(c) NORMAL BUSINESS CHANGES. Outside an emergency, this title does not require disclosure of profit margins to the public or prohibit a regular, independently determined public price policy meeting section 602. Advance notice alone does not legalize a prohibited surge.

(d) EQUIVALENT VALUE. A seller shall not evade a restriction by reducing quantity, removing a necessary component, requiring a new membership, changing the seller’s nominal identity, or adding a mandatory charge. Comparisons shall be made for materially equivalent quantities and service levels.

SEC. 604. EMERGENCY ACTIVATION AND DURATION.

(a) TRIGGER. Emergency protections apply following a Federal, State, Tribal, or territorial emergency declaration, or a lawful local disaster declaration, to essential goods and services materially affected by the declared event in the affected area or its directly disrupted supply chain.

(b) NEXUS. The existence of an unrelated or general continuing declaration does not activate nationwide price restrictions. The agency seeking enforcement shall establish the material connection between the event, product or service, geography, and challenged conduct.

(c) PUBLIC NOTICE. The Commission shall maintain a public register of applicable declarations and issue implementing notices identifying covered areas and categories. Failure to publish does not authorize knowing exploitation of a publicly declared disaster, but reasonable lack of notice shall be considered in civil-penalty determinations.

(d) DURATION. Initial Federal protections under this title last 30 days after the triggering declaration. The Commission may renew them in periods not exceeding 30 days upon findings of continuing material disruption. Protections shall not exceed 180 consecutive days for the same event unless a relevant Presidential disaster or Federal public-health emergency remains in effect and each further 30-day renewal includes specific findings and notice to Congress.

(e) STATE LAW. Expiration of protections under this section does not terminate a protection independently established by State, Tribal, territorial, or local law.

SEC. 605. EMERGENCY MAXIMUM PRICES.

(a) RULE. During an applicable emergency period, a covered person shall not charge for an essential good or service more than the greater of:

(1) 110 percent of the baseline unit price determined under section 606; or

(2) the baseline unit price plus the documented increase in reasonable unit costs attributable to obtaining and supplying the good or service.

(b) NO STACKING. The 10-percent allowance in subsection (a)(1) may not be added to the cost allowance in subsection (a)(2).

(c) NET BASIS. Costs shall be calculated net of directly attributable rebates, insurance recoveries, subsidies, and other offsets. A cost-based allowance preserves the pre-emergency dollar margin; it does not authorize an increased percentage markup on the additional cost.

(d) PROOF. The enforcing party shall prove the emergency nexus, applicable baseline, and challenged price by a preponderance of the evidence. A seller asserting a cost allowance shall produce records supporting that allowance. The enforcing party retains the ultimate burden of proving a violation.

(e) NO REQUIREMENT TO SELL AT A LOSS. Nothing in this title requires a person to continue a transaction at a price below the maximum lawfully available under the cost allowance or to continue operations that cannot safely be performed. A withdrawal may not be a sham coordinated with an affiliate to evade this title.

SEC. 606. BASELINES, SEASONALITY, AND NEW ENTRANTS.

(a) ORDINARY BASELINE. The baseline is the quantity-weighted average actual total unit price charged by the seller for a materially equivalent good or service during the 60 days before the earlier of the relevant declaration or a specific official public warning identifying the impending event.

(b) COMPARABILITY. A baseline may be adjusted for a documented difference in quantity, quality, location-specific supply cost, or ordinary seasonality. The adjustment shall not incorporate emergency-induced scarcity or a price increase made in anticipation of exploiting the warning.

(c) TEMPORARY PROMOTIONS. A publicly announced promotion lasting not more than 7 days may be excluded if inclusion would materially distort the ordinary baseline and the seller documents the contemporaneous regular price. A seller shall not exclude recurring ordinary discounts or use this provision to inflate a reference price.

(d) NO SALES HISTORY. If the seller lacks a comparable history, the baseline shall be a reliable pre-emergency market price in the relevant area, adjusted for actual supply differences.

(e) NEW SUPPLY. If no reliable market comparison exists, a new entrant may charge documented reasonable unit costs plus a reasonable dollar return supported by pre-emergency margins for comparable supply activities. The Commission shall publish nonexclusive methods for establishing that return, with particular attention to transportation and entry costs needed to expand supply.

SEC. 607. EMERGENCY MARKET MANIPULATION.

(a) PROHIBITIONS. A covered person shall not knowingly use bots or coordinated accounts to defeat reasonable purchase limits for commercial resale at prices prohibited by this title; coordinate withholding of essential inventory to create a price-increasing shortage; or falsely represent an emergency-related supply constraint.

(b) HOUSEHOLD AND BUSINESS USE. Ordinary household purchasing, reasonable contingency inventories, bona fide safety closures, and independently justified inventory management are not prohibited solely because they reduce current availability.

(c) NO FORCED LABOR OR UNSAFE OPERATION. Nothing in this title requires an employee, contractor, or owner to work, travel, or operate in unsafe conditions.

SEC. 608. MARKETPLACE EMERGENCY DUTIES.

(a) MONITORING. A marketplace offering essential goods in a materially affected area shall activate reasonable systems to identify unusually large price increases, evasion through new seller accounts, and prohibited automated bulk resale.

(b) ACTION. On substantiated notice of an apparent violation posing imminent material harm, the marketplace shall act under section 705, including temporary restriction where reasonably necessary, and preserve relevant records.

(c) SUPPLY. Reasonable measures shall distinguish a bona fide new supplier with higher documented costs from an unlawful reseller. A marketplace shall provide an expedited route to submit cost evidence and contest an erroneous restriction.

SEC. 609. SUPPLY MONITORING AND PUBLIC WARNINGS.

(a) MONITORING. The Commission shall monitor availability, delays, substitution, entry, worker compensation, and price effects during significant emergency enforcement, using lawful and privacy-protective methods.

(b) WARNINGS. Public warnings shall accurately distinguish complaints, preliminary findings, and adjudicated violations. Before identifying an enterprise in a nonemergency public alert, the agency shall ordinarily provide an opportunity to respond.

(c) COURT RELIEF. Emergency injunctive relief shall be sought in court under section 1703. This title does not authorize an unreviewable administrative order fixing a particular seller’s prices.

(d) CORRECTIVE ACTION. The Commission may clarify cost allowances and comparable-baseline methods to prevent unintended supply barriers, but may not waive the statutory surveillance prohibition or authorize deceptive charges.

SEC. 701. NONPUBLIC COMPETITOR DATA IN PRICING SYSTEMS.

(a) PROHIBITION. A pricing intermediary shall not knowingly combine current or forward-looking, nonpublic, competitively sensitive information from two or more independent competitors to generate individualized price, fee, concession, output, occupancy, or inventory recommendations for those competitors.

(b) CUSTOMER USE. A covered person shall not knowingly adopt a recommendation generated through the practice prohibited by subsection (a).

(c) SENSITIVE INFORMATION. Competitively sensitive information includes nonpublic transaction prices, negotiated concessions, intended price changes, capacity plans, customer-specific terms, and inventory or occupancy strategies likely to affect competition.

(d) TECHNICAL EVASION. Removal of names, aggregation into an embedding, use in model training, or delivery through a nominally independent consultant does not create an exception where the system materially transmits the competitive significance of the prohibited information.

(e) INDEPENDENT DUTY. A violation of this section does not require proof of an agreement satisfying every element of a separate antitrust offense. Nothing in this section reduces the requirements for a claim brought under another antitrust law.

SEC. 702. LAWFUL INFORMATION AND INDEPENDENT PRICE SETTING.

(a) PERMITTED SOURCES. Section 701 does not prohibit use of a seller’s own information, genuinely public contemporaneous prices, or historical benchmarking that does not reveal current or future competitive intentions or facilitate coordination.

(b) LIMITED BENCHMARK METHOD. A historical benchmark may qualify under subsection (a) when its underlying observations are at least 6 months old, derive from at least five independent contributors, contain no contributor accounting for more than 25 percent of an output, cannot reasonably be reverse engineered to identify a contributor’s information, and are not used to align future prices. These conditions are not immunity from antitrust law.

(c) INDEPENDENCE. A pricing intermediary shall not penalize a customer for independently lowering a price, increasing supply, offering a concession, or refusing a recommendation.

(d) NO GENERAL APPROVAL. Compliance with this section does not approve price fixing, market division, an unlawful exchange of information, or another restraint of trade involving public data.

SEC. 703. LOWER-PRICE FREEDOM AND PARITY RESTRICTIONS.

(a) DIRECT OFFERS. A marketplace shall not prohibit or retaliate against a seller solely because the seller offers a lower total price through its own direct channel or another marketplace.

(b) ACCURACY. A marketplace may require truthful descriptions and may protect against a seller’s deceptive use of a listing to collect an undisclosed off-platform mandatory fee.

(c) COMPENSATION. This section does not require a marketplace to provide service without compensation or prohibit a disclosed charge reasonably related to a service actually supplied.

(d) BUYER ORGANIZATION. Genuine consumer buying groups, cooperative purchasing, and independently negotiated discounts remain permitted, subject to competition law.

SEC. 704. MARKETPLACE RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONTROLLED CONDUCT.

(a) OWN PRACTICES. A marketplace is responsible for its own price displays, fees, defaults, payment collection, ranking representations, and pricing systems.

(b) TECHNICAL DESIGN. A marketplace shall require structured fields for mandatory seller charges, supply necessary information about marketplace-imposed fees, and prevent a seller from listing a known partial price as the total.

(c) ALLOCATION. A marketplace and seller may allocate operational tasks by contract, but shall not use that allocation to deny a consumer access to a required refund, cancellation, or complaint mechanism.

(d) THIRD-PARTY CONDUCT. Liability for an uncontrolled third-party violation shall be determined under section 706 and the knowledge and participation standards of this Act, not solely from the existence of a listing.

SEC. 705. NOTICE, CORRECTION, AND SELLER APPEALS.

(a) NOTICE CHANNEL. A marketplace shall maintain an accessible mechanism for a consumer, seller, or agency to identify a suspected pricing violation with sufficient particulars to locate the offer.

(b) RESPONSE. The marketplace shall review a substantiated notice and take reasonable action within 5 business days. For a credible notice of imminent material harm involving an essential good during an emergency, preliminary protective action shall occur within 24 hours.

(c) PROPORTIONALITY. Action may include requesting information, correcting a display, stopping a particular charge, refunding an identified overcharge, or temporarily restricting an offer. A marketplace shall not automatically terminate an entire independent business where a narrower measure adequately protects consumers.

(d) APPEAL. The seller shall receive the reason for a restriction and an opportunity for a reasonably prompt review by a qualified person. An appeal supported by material evidence shall ordinarily be resolved within 10 business days, or within 3 business days for emergency supply.

(e) REPEAT EVASION. A marketplace shall take reasonable measures against repeated violations through related accounts where common operation is established by reliable evidence.

SEC. 706. CONDITIONAL MARKETPLACE SAFE HARBOR.

(a) CONDITIONS. A marketplace is not liable for an isolated seller violation outside its control if it maintained reasonable compliance systems, neither knew nor recklessly disregarded the violation, did not materially assist it, and acted promptly upon adequate notice.

(b) COMMISSIONS. Receipt of an ordinary disclosed transaction commission does not by itself defeat the safe harbor. An additional charge specifically derived from or knowingly structured to reward an unlawful fee may do so.

(c) EXCLUSIONS. The safe harbor does not apply to the marketplace’s own violation, required fee, prohibited pricing system, intentional deception, or knowing continuation of a repeat unlawful practice.

SEC. 707. RANKING, SPONSORSHIP, AND PRICE SORTING.

(a) DISCLOSURE. A marketplace shall disclose paid placement and the principal factors materially determining the order of transaction offers. The disclosure need not reveal source code or enable manipulation of the ranking system.

(b) PRICE SORTING. Where materially comparable offers can be sorted by price, the marketplace shall offer a functional sort by the applicable total price, including mandatory charges for the selected quantity and destination.

(c) REPRESENTATIONS. A compensated ranking shall not be represented as an independent lowest-price or best-value ranking without a truthful explanation of the compensation’s effect.

(d) SCOPE. This section governs commercial transaction representations, not the editorial ordering of news, political speech, or noncommercial expression.

SEC. 708. CONSUMER PURCHASING AGENTS.

(a) AUTHORITY. A provider of an automated purchasing agent acting for a consumer shall comply with the consumer’s stated spending ceiling, product constraints, and approval requirements. The provider shall not treat general permission to assist as unlimited authority to purchase.

(b) CONFLICTS. Before a purchase recommendation materially influenced by compensation, the provider shall disclose the compensation relationship and its material effect.

(c) CONFIDENTIAL BUDGET. The provider shall not disclose a consumer’s confidential maximum willingness to pay to a seller for price optimization without a separate, informed instruction from the consumer for a legitimate negotiation purpose.

(d) RIGHTS. An automated agent may not waive a statutory right, agree to a materially higher recurring charge, or accept a substitute outside its authorization merely because the action is technically executable.

SEC. 709. RELATION TO COMMUNICATIONS IMMUNITY.

Notwithstanding section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230), a civil action may enforce an affirmative pricing, payment, disclosure, or compliance duty expressly imposed by this Act on a marketplace or agent with respect to its own commercial conduct. This section does not impose general publisher liability for unrelated third-party speech, require general monitoring of noncommercial expression, or eliminate the safe harbor in section 706.

SEC. 801. GENUINE REFERENCE PRICES.

(a) OWN-PRICE REDUCTIONS. A seller advertising a reduction from its own prior price shall use as the reference the lowest generally available total price it charged or genuinely offered for the materially equivalent product through the relevant channel during the preceding 30 days.

(b) ORDINARY DISCOUNTS. A discount generally available through an ordinary free loyalty program or widely distributed coupon shall be included in determining the reference price. A genuine individualized hardship or negotiated discount need not be included.

(c) NEW GOODS. A product offered for fewer than 30 days may use the lowest price since introduction only if it was genuinely offered for at least 7 days and the shorter period is disclosed. Otherwise, an introductory price may be advertised without a fictitious prior-price comparison.

(d) PROGRESSIVE REDUCTIONS. A genuine continuous clearance may refer to the price preceding the first reduction for not more than 90 days if prices only decrease and the original reference date is disclosed.

(e) EVASION. A new barcode, package color, minor bundle change, or nominally different channel shall not reset price history for a materially equivalent offer.

SEC. 802. MARKET COMPARISONS AND SAVINGS CLAIMS.

(a) SUBSTANTIATION. A manufacturer’s suggested price, competitor comparison, percentage savings, or market-value claim shall be supported by reasonably current, reliable evidence and identify the nature of the comparison.

(b) DISTINCTION. A suggested price that is not the seller’s actual former price shall not be represented as such. A seller shall not rely on an implausible list price used primarily to manufacture discounts.

(c) BROAD CLAIMS. A “storewide”, “sitewide”, “everything”, or similar claim shall prominently identify material exclusions and minimum-purchase conditions.

(d) RECORDS. The seller shall preserve the underlying substantiation under title XV.

SEC. 803. FALSE URGENCY, SCARCITY, AND SOCIAL PROOF.

A covered person shall not use a countdown, queue, stock warning, purchase counter, popularity statement, or booking notice that materially misstates the duration, availability, demand, or activity to which it refers. A timer that resets for successive consumers may be used only if clearly identified as an individual offer period and not represented as a market-wide final deadline. A stock statement shall distinguish the seller’s own allotment from total market supply where that distinction is material.

SEC. 804. STANDARDIZED UNIT PRICING.

(a) COVERAGE. A retailer shall display unit prices for food, beverages, household staples, cleaning products, personal-care goods, infant supplies, pet staples, and nonprescription health products sold in measurable quantities.

(b) CONSISTENCY. Products within a reasonably comparable category shall use consistent units of weight, volume, length, area, count, or objectively defined concentration. A seller shall not alternate units or rely on a manipulable serving size to impair comparison.

(c) MEDICINES. A per-dose or per-active-ingredient comparison shall be used only where medically appropriate and shall not imply therapeutic equivalence that has not been established. Required drug labeling controls in the event of a direct conflict.

(d) PLACEMENT. The unit price shall appear next to the applicable purchase price in stores and digital transaction displays, including ordinary generally available discount prices.

(e) STANDARDS. The Commission shall establish category-specific units, legibility standards, treatment of mixed bundles, and limited exceptions for quantities too small or irregular to yield a meaningful comparison. Familiar United States customary units may be accompanied by metric equivalents.

SEC. 805. QUANTITY REDUCTIONS AND REPLACEMENT PRODUCTS.

(a) TRIGGER. If a product replaces a materially equivalent product offered during the preceding 12 months with a smaller net quantity and a higher unit price, the retailer shall display a quantity-change notice for 180 days after the replacement is first offered.

(b) NOTICE. The notice shall state the former and new net quantities and the actual percentage change in unit price at that retailer. It shall not characterize a subjective value judgment as a measured fact.

(c) SUCCESSOR PRODUCTS. A manufacturer or retailer shall not avoid this section through a new identifier, package redesign, nominal product-line change, or transfer to an affiliate where the replacement is materially equivalent in ordinary function and positioning.

(d) NO PRICE-CHANGE REQUIREMENT. This section requires disclosure; it does not require a manufacturer to maintain a package size or establish a minimum product quantity.

SEC. 806. MANUFACTURER INFORMATION DUTIES.

(a) NOTICE TO DISTRIBUTION. A manufacturer shall provide retailers and distributors, at least 30 days before planned distribution of a covered replacement product, the prior and new quantity, product identifiers, first distribution date, and information reasonably necessary to identify the predecessor product.

(b) UNPLANNED CHANGES. If a shorter period is objectively necessary for safety or supply continuity, notice shall be provided as soon as practicable with an explanation.

(c) RESPONSIBILITY. A manufacturer is responsible for false or withheld information within its control. A retailer reasonably relying on accurate information is not liable for a concealed manufacturer-controlled change of which it neither knew nor recklessly disregarded. Actual knowledge requires prompt correction.

(d) RETAIL PRICE. The manufacturer shall not dictate the retailer’s unit-price calculation or exchange competitors’ nonpublic prices to administer this section.

SEC. 807. MATERIAL REDUCTIONS IN INCLUDED FEATURES.

(a) OBJECTIVE CHANGES. Before selling or renewing a materially changed offer, a seller shall disclose an objectively verifiable reduction in an expressly represented ingredient, function, service frequency, warranty duration, support period, repairability commitment, or included benefit that would likely affect a reasonable consumer’s decision.

(b) NO SUBJECTIVE QUALITY BOARD. This section does not authorize an agency to require a generalized declaration that a product is inferior or to assign a universal monetary value to taste, aesthetics, or ordinary reformulation.

(c) EXISTING CONTRACTS. Disclosure does not excuse breach of a prepaid commitment or eliminate a remedy under section 403 or 1302.

(d) SAFETY LABELS. Food, drug, and product-safety disclosures shall be coordinated with the responsible agency and shall not contradict a required safety or ingredient statement.

SEC. 808. PRICE HISTORY AND COMPARISON RECORDS.

(a) ACCESS. A large digital retailer shall make available the lowest generally available total price of a materially equivalent offer during the preceding 30 days and the date range covered. The information may appear through an adjacent accessible price-history control rather than dominate the primary price.

(b) LIMITS. The history shall not disclose other consumers’ identities, individualized hardship prices, nonpublic costs, or future pricing intentions.

(c) VARIABLE GOODS. The Commission may prescribe a more informative standardized history for a genuinely variable product, but shall not exempt an entire sector merely because prices change frequently.

(d) PRESERVATION. A retailer shall preserve price histories sufficient to verify claims without recording each consumer’s browsing session.

SEC. 809. MATERIALLY IDENTICAL NECESSITIES AND GENDER LABELS.

(a) RULE. A seller shall not charge different prices for materially identical personal-care or hygiene necessities solely because the products are labeled or marketed for different sexes or genders.

(b) COMPARABILITY. Material identity shall consider formulation, quantity, functional design, manufacturing cost, and included services. A substantiated cost or functional difference may justify a different price. Packaging color or gendered branding alone does not.

(c) NO UNRELATED INFERENCE. This section does not require equal prices for noncomparable products or authorize collection of a purchaser’s sex or gender.

SEC. 901. RENTAL OFFERS AND MOVE-IN COSTS.

(a) MONTHLY TOTAL. A residential rental advertisement shall state the total mandatory monthly housing price, including required amenity, package, technology, pest-control, parking, insurance, and administrative charges.

(b) DISTINCT OUTLAYS. Before an application or payment, the housing provider shall separately disclose mandatory nonrecurring move-in charges, refundable deposits, application charges, the minimum lease term, utility obligations, any variable-charge formula, and total amounts due at application and possession.

(c) CONDITIONAL FEES. A fee applicable only to an optional parking space or a disclosed animal shall be identified with its condition. No charge may be imposed for an assistance animal where prohibited by applicable disability or fair-housing law.

(d) UNKNOWN UTILITIES. For a utility billed according to actual usage, the provider shall disclose the rate method and a reasonably supported historical estimate, stating that actual usage may vary. An estimate shall not disguise a fixed mandatory fee.

SEC. 902. APPLICATIONS, SCREENING, AND QUOTED RENT.

(a) AVAILABILITY AND CRITERIA. Before collecting an application fee, a housing provider shall disclose whether a unit is actually available or the application is for a waiting list, the material objective screening criteria, and whether another application has already been accepted, without disclosing another applicant’s personal information.

(b) FEE LIMIT. An application fee shall not exceed the lesser of the provider’s actual reasonable third-party screening cost or $35, adjusted under section 1905. No fee may be charged for a screening not performed or a cost already recovered from the applicant by the same provider for the same screening within 30 days.

(c) PORTABLE REPORT. A provider shall accept a consumer-provided screening report issued within the preceding 30 days by a lawful screening service if its authenticity can reasonably be verified and it contains the information required by the disclosed criteria. The provider may obtain an additional report at its own cost unless a material change justifies a new disclosed screening.

(d) REFUNDS. Unused application fees shall be refunded. A fee shall not be collected where the provider knows the advertised unit is unavailable and has not clearly offered a waiting-list application, or knows the applicant cannot satisfy a disclosed objective condition based on information already supplied.

(e) RENT LOCK. After receipt of a complete application and any lawful fee, the quoted monthly price and mandatory charges shall remain available to that applicant through the provider’s decision and, following approval, for at least 5 business days to accept the lease. This subsection does not require approval of an applicant or reservation of a unit where another applicant was lawfully accepted first.

SEC. 903. SECURITY DEPOSITS AND DEPOSIT-REPLACEMENT PRODUCTS.

(a) RETURN. Within 21 days after possession is lawfully returned, a housing provider shall return the undisputed deposit balance and provide an itemized statement and reasonable evidence of each deduction. If a necessary repair invoice is not yet available, a reasonable documented estimate may support retention of that portion, with a final accounting within 30 additional days.

(b) DEDUCTIONS. Deductions shall not include ordinary wear, an unlawful fee, an amount recovered from insurance, or a replacement charge exceeding the item’s depreciated value where repair is not reasonable.

(c) REPLACEMENT PRODUCTS. A nonrefundable deposit-replacement, bond, or guarantee product shall be separately identified as nonrefundable and shall disclose premiums over the expected lease term, continuing liability for damage, and whether any amount reduces that liability.

(d) CHOICE. A provider offering a deposit-replacement product shall also offer a lawful refundable-deposit option on materially equivalent rental terms. A provider shall not receive an undisclosed commission that makes the alternative appear less costly than it is.

(e) STATE PROTECTION. A lower deposit limit, shorter return period, interest obligation, or stronger accounting requirement under other law is preserved.

SEC. 904. LEASE CHANGES, RENEWALS, AND UNLAWFUL FEES.

(a) FIXED TERM. A housing provider shall not add or increase a mandatory fee during a fixed lease term unless the change is expressly permitted by a clear existing formula for an actual government charge or consumption-based utility cost and is otherwise lawful.

(b) RENEWAL. A proposed increase in rent or mandatory recurring charges at renewal shall be disclosed at least 60 days before the existing term ends, or for a longer period required by other law.

(c) COLLECTION. A housing provider shall not treat an unlawful fee as unpaid rent, apply a payment intended for lawful current rent first to that fee, or seek possession solely because that fee remains unpaid. This subsection does not excuse nonpayment of lawful rent or alter an otherwise lawful ground for possession.

(d) COORDINATION. Residential pricing systems are subject to titles V through VII. Nothing in this title establishes a general Federal rent ceiling outside the express emergency and essential-pricing provisions.

SEC. 905. UTILITY REBILLING AND REQUIRED SERVICE PROVIDERS.

(a) SUBMETERING. A housing provider rebilling utility consumption shall disclose the meter or allocation method, underlying tariff, applicable taxes, and any administrative charge.

(b) COST. A rebilled utility charge shall not exceed the actual reasonably allocated utility cost plus a separately disclosed reasonable incremental metering or billing cost permitted by law. The provider shall not convert a utility account into an undisclosed profit-generating mandatory fee.

(c) REQUIRED PROVIDERS. A required internet, insurance, payment, or other housing-related service shall be included in the housing disclosures, with any ownership or compensation relationship disclosed before lease acceptance.

(d) VERIFICATION. A tenant may obtain an explanation and relevant nonpersonal billing records sufficient to verify the allocation without obtaining another tenant’s personal usage information.

SEC. 906. REGULATED UTILITIES AND VARIABLE ENERGY PRODUCTS.

(a) RATE AUTHORITY. This Act does not transfer general utility ratemaking authority from a competent Federal, State, Tribal, or local regulator to the Commission.

(b) APPROVED RATES. A published time-of-use or other variable rate specifically approved by the competent regulator is permitted if the consumer receives intelligible disclosure of the rate structure, material risks, and available fixed or budget-billing alternatives.

(c) WHOLESALE-INDEXED RETAIL OFFERS. A competitive retail energy seller shall not enroll a residential consumer in a rate directly exposing the consumer to uncapped wholesale-price volatility without separate affirmative consent and an offered monthly bill ceiling or other regulator-approved risk-limiting option. A generic disclosure of variable pricing is insufficient.

(d) NO BLANKET IMMUNITY. Regulatory status does not immunize a false bill, undisclosed fee, unauthorized enrollment, or surveillance pricing. A tariff shall not be treated as approval of a charge not actually authorized by the regulator.

SEC. 907. TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND BROADBAND PRICE LABELS.

(a) LABEL. A provider shall make available at the point of sale a standardized label stating the full recurring price; mandatory installation and equipment charges; introductory expiration; normal post-introductory price; data or usage limits; overage formula; minimum commitment; and cancellation or equipment-return obligations.

(b) EQUIPMENT. An advertised service price conditioned on renting equipment shall include the rental. A provider shall clearly state whether compatible consumer-owned equipment may be used.

(c) DISCOUNTS. An automatic-payment or bundled discount shall identify the qualifying conditions and the undiscounted total. A failure of the provider’s own payment system shall not be treated as a consumer’s failure to qualify.

(d) EXISTING LABELS. The Federal Communications Commission shall integrate these requirements with existing lawful labels rather than require duplicative inconsistent formats.

SEC. 908. SWITCHING, PORTABILITY, AND OUTAGE CREDITS.

(a) SWITCHING. A provider shall not obstruct lawful number porting, service transfer, release of consumer data, or return of required equipment solely to collect a disputed charge.

(b) EQUIPMENT RETURN. A provider requiring return of leased equipment shall offer a prepaid return method or a reasonably accessible local return location and shall provide proof of return without charge.

(c) CREDITS. For an interruption of paid communications service exceeding 24 continuous hours, or 48 aggregate hours in a billing month, the provider shall automatically credit the proportionate recurring price attributable to the period without service, unless the interruption was caused by the consumer. A force-majeure event may excuse performance but does not entitle the provider to retain payment for service not supplied.

(d) PUBLIC SAFETY. Nothing in this section requires unlawful disconnection or interference with emergency communications.

SEC. 1001. COORDINATED ESTIMATES FOR SCHEDULED CARE.

(a) ESTIMATE. For nonemergency care scheduled at least 3 business days in advance, a provider shall furnish a written good-faith estimate of the reasonably foreseeable patient charge. For care scheduled 3 through 9 business days in advance, the estimate is due within 1 business day after scheduling; for care scheduled at least 10 business days in advance, within 3 business days. A requested estimate before scheduling is due within 3 business days after receipt of the reasonably necessary information.

(b) EPISODE COMPONENTS. A provider controlling scheduling of a planned episode shall coordinate reasonably foreseeable facility, professional, anesthesia, laboratory, imaging, and other required components. The estimate shall identify any component not included and assist the patient in obtaining it; a known mandatory component shall not be omitted merely because separately billed.

(c) CONTENT. The estimate shall identify the procedure or service, total expected charge, expected patient responsibility where available, applicable insurance assumptions, material exclusions, and whether the estimate is a binding quote or a good-faith estimate.

(d) NO DELAY OF EMERGENCY CARE. This section does not authorize delay, denial, or conditioning of emergency screening or stabilization on a price estimate, insurance verification, deposit, or payment.

SEC. 1002. ESTIMATE RELIANCE AND UNAPPROVED EXCESS CHARGES.

(a) SELF-PAY PROTECTION. For an uninsured or self-pay patient, a provider shall not collect more than the agreed fixed quote or, for a good-faith estimate, the estimate plus the lesser of 10 percent or $100, unless an exception in subsection (b) applies. The tolerance is not authorization to add a routine markup.

(b) EXCEPTIONS. Additional charges may be collected for a separately described service affirmatively requested after disclosure, or care objectively unforeseeable when the estimate was issued and clinically necessary to prevent serious harm where prior consent could not reasonably be obtained. The provider bears the burden of producing contemporaneous clinical and price records supporting the exception.

(c) INSURED PATIENTS. A provider or plan that supplies materially inaccurate information within its control concerning network participation, an agreed charge, or the patient’s applicable benefit calculation shall correct that information and hold the patient harmless for the reasonably foreseeable additional patient liability caused by reasonable reliance on it. This subsection does not make a provider responsible for a change in another unrelated claim of which it could not reasonably have known.

(d) COORDINATION. A financial adjustment under this section does not require a payer to cover a service excluded by the plan; responsibility for a misrepresentation shall be allocated to the entity that caused it. Existing surprise-billing and emergency protections remain applicable.

SEC. 1003. HEALTH BILLING INTEGRITY.

(a) ITEMIZATION. A patient shall be entitled, without charge, to an intelligible itemized bill stating the services, dates, providers, adjustments, insurer payments, and amount lawfully due from the patient.

(b) PROHIBITIONS. A provider shall not charge for an unperformed service, duplicate a component already included, impose a fictitious facility charge unrelated to a facility service actually supplied, or charge for correcting its own billing or transmitting a bill to the patient’s payer.

(c) DISCLOSURE. A lawful facility or location-dependent charge shall be identified before scheduled nonemergency care where reasonably known. Moving an appointment to a higher-charge site requires notice of the material price consequence before acceptance where practicable.

(d) NO CLINICAL INTERFERENCE. Price disclosure does not substitute for clinical judgment, informed medical consent, or a duty to recommend appropriate treatment.

SEC. 1004. HEALTH-BILL DISPUTES AND COLLECTION PAUSES.

(a) REVIEW. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall maintain or designate an independent, accessible process to resolve disputes under sections 1001 through 1003, using existing lawful patient-provider dispute systems where practicable.

(b) COST AND TIMING. A patient shall not be charged to contest a plausible violation under this Act. A decision shall ordinarily issue within 60 days after the necessary submissions are complete, with a reasoned explanation of any extension.

(c) PAUSE. During a good-faith estimate dispute, correction of an insurer processing error, or timely application for financial assistance for which the patient may be eligible, the provider shall pause collection of the genuinely disputed amount and shall not add interest, late fees, or adverse credit reporting concerning that amount.

(d) COURT ACCESS. The process does not require exhaustion before a claim under this Act and does not replace an applicable plan-benefit appeal required for a claim brought under another statute.

SEC. 1005. PRESCRIPTION PRICE CHOICE.

(a) INFORMATION. Before dispensing, a pharmacy shall disclose, using information reasonably available in its transaction system, the patient’s insured out-of-pocket price and a lower cash price offered by that pharmacy for the identical prescribed product and quantity.

(b) NO GAG CLAUSE. A pharmacy benefit manager, insurer, or intermediary shall not prohibit that disclosure or penalize a pharmacy solely for giving truthful price information.

(c) CHOICE. A patient may choose the lower available price. The pharmacy shall explain any known consequence for deductible or out-of-pocket accumulation and shall not falsely promise insurance credit for a transaction not eligible for such credit.

(d) COLLECTION. An intermediary shall not require collection of a patient copayment exceeding the pharmacy’s generally available cash price for the identical product and quantity where the patient elects that cash transaction.

(e) CLINICAL SAFETY. This section does not authorize substitution contrary to prescription, pharmacy, or drug-safety law and does not equate products solely because their unit prices are similar.

SEC. 1006. INSURANCE PREMIUMS, FEES, AND RENEWALS.

(a) FULL COST. An insurance offer shall state the full premium for the quoted term, mandatory installment or administration charges, material eligibility conditions, and the total payable under the selected payment schedule.

(b) RISK PRICING. Lawful actuarial and underwriting distinctions meeting section 503(d) remain permitted. Pricing based on a consumer’s inferred tolerance for renewal increases rather than insured risk is not authorized by this exception.

(c) RENEWAL. A renewal notice shall clearly distinguish a change in premium, coverage, deductible, exclusions, and optional benefits. An increase shall not be hidden by simultaneously changing the billing interval.

(d) CANCELLATION. Cancellation shall be available through a reasonable direct mechanism, subject to legally required notice and continuity protections. Generic subscription rules shall not be used to create an unintended lapse in required or essential coverage.

(e) PREEMPTION COORDINATION. Section 2002 governs the relationship of this title to insurance regulation and employee-benefit law.

SEC. 1007. COOPERATION AND LIMITS ON RATE AUTHORITY.

(a) COOPERATION. Providers, plans, and billing intermediaries shall exchange the minimum information reasonably necessary to produce accurate estimates and correct unlawful charges through secure, interoperable methods prescribed by the responsible agencies.

(b) NO GENERAL REIMBURSEMENT SCHEDULE. This title does not establish a general Federal reimbursement rate or require public release of individualized claims, confidential medical information, or proprietary clinical software.

(c) PATIENT DATA. Price-estimate information shall not be repurposed for advertising, surveillance pricing, or sale to data brokers.

SEC. 1101. FINANCIAL PRICE PRESENTATION.

(a) CLOSED-END CREDIT. Before binding acceptance, a creditor shall clearly disclose the cash price where applicable, amount financed, annual percentage rate, finance charge, payment schedule, total scheduled payments, required ancillary products, and applicable late or default charges.

(b) OPEN-END AND VARIABLE PRODUCTS. A provider shall disclose the applicable annual percentage rate and its variable-rate formula, mandatory account fees, billing method, and representative cost examples with stated assumptions. It shall not represent a variable future cost as a guaranteed total.

(c) CONSISTENT CALCULATION. Disclosures required by this section shall use the definitions and methods of the Truth in Lending Act where applicable. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall prescribe equivalent standardized methods for products newly covered by section 1102, without permitting the exclusion of a mandatory credit charge merely because it bears a different label.

(d) OPTIONAL PRODUCTS. Credit insurance, debt cancellation, expedited funding, and membership products shall not be represented as optional if required to receive the advertised loan terms.

SEC. 1102. INSTALLMENT PURCHASE FINANCING.

(a) COVERAGE. A commercial arrangement financing a consumer purchase through two or more deferred installment payments shall be subject to this section regardless of whether it is described as buy-now-pay-later, split payment, a membership advance, or interest-free credit.

(b) RIGHTS. The provider shall supply the disclosures in section 1101 appropriate to the product; a periodic statement where a balance remains; a free billing-dispute process; clear late-fee limits; and correction of an obligation attributable to an undelivered, returned, or refunded purchase.

(c) DISPUTED PURCHASES. The provider shall suspend collection and adverse reporting of the amount reasonably attributable to a good-faith merchant dispute while it investigates under section 306. It shall not accelerate unrelated undisputed installments solely because of that dispute.

(d) COORDINATED REFUNDS. A merchant and finance provider shall promptly reconcile a refund and identify the consumer’s remaining lawful balance. The consumer shall not be required to continue paying for a refunded purchase because the enterprises have not settled between themselves.

(e) EXCLUSION. An ordinary arrangement paying for successive periods of contemporaneously supplied rent or service, without financing a prior purchase, is not installment purchase financing solely because payments recur.

SEC. 1103. OVERDRAFT, DECLINED TRANSACTIONS, AND REPRESENTMENT.

(a) DECLINED TRANSACTIONS. A depository institution or payment provider shall not impose a fee merely for declining a transaction without advancing funds or supplying a separately requested service.

(b) AFFIRMATIVE CHOICE. An overdraft service that advances funds for a fee requires separate affirmative consent describing the fee, available alternatives, and revocation method. Declining that service shall not result in a charge for the declined transaction.

(c) SETTLEMENT. A provider shall not impose an overdraft fee on a transaction it authorized against a sufficient available balance when a later settlement sequence controlled by the provider creates the shortage.

(d) REPEATED PRESENTMENT. The same underlying payment instruction shall not generate repeated insufficient-funds or overdraft fees through resubmission. A provider shall not reorder transactions primarily to multiply fees.

(e) LIMIT. A permissible overdraft fee shall comply with section 1104 and shall not exceed the amount actually advanced for the triggering transaction.

SEC. 1104. LATE FEES AND CREDIT-RELATED PENALTIES.

(a) CEILING. Unless another law imposes a lower limit, a consumer credit late fee or comparable default fee shall not exceed the lesser of the provider’s reasonable documented net cost caused by the late event, $10 adjusted under section 1905, or the amount of the unpaid scheduled payment.

(b) COST METHOD. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may approve reasonable portfolio-based cost estimation that excludes general overhead, credit losses already recovered through interest, collection profits, and costs attributable to other consumers.

(c) NO MULTIPLICATION. One missed scheduled payment shall not generate more than one late fee, a fee on a prior fee, or a new fee merely because an authorized payment is processed after a provider-created cutoff not disclosed in advance.

(d) NO GENERAL INTEREST CAP. This section does not establish a general annual percentage rate ceiling or authorize an interest rate otherwise unlawful.

SEC. 1105. PAYMENT AUTHORIZATION AND RETRIES.

(a) REVOCATION. A consumer may revoke a recurring electronic payment authorization through a reasonable direct mechanism. A provider shall not circumvent revocation through a different token, account descriptor, affiliate, or merchant code.

(b) RETRIES. After a failed payment, a collecting covered person shall give notice of the failure and any lawful fee before a new attempt. No more than one additional attempt may be initiated on the same authorization without a new affirmative instruction, unless a more protective rule applies.

(c) LEGITIMATE DEBT. Revocation does not eliminate a lawful obligation. The provider shall identify a reasonable alternative payment method and shall not impose a charge solely for exercising a statutory revocation right.

SEC. 1106. FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND REMITTANCE PRICES.

(a) TOTAL. A provider shall disclose the amount paid, each mandatory fee, the exchange rate actually applied, the amount expected to be received, and any reasonably known recipient charge before authorization.

(b) CONVERSION CHOICE. Dynamic currency conversion shall not be preselected. The consumer shall receive a genuine choice to pay in the transaction currency where available.

(c) “FREE” CLAIMS. A provider advertising a free or no-fee conversion shall disclose a retained conversion spread and shall not use that claim where it falsely implies no economic charge relative to a stated benchmark.

(d) BENCHMARK. A represented benchmark shall identify its source and timestamp and shall not be a fictitious rate selected to exaggerate savings.

SEC. 1107. FINANCIAL CORRECTIONS AND CREDIT INFORMATION.

(a) CORRECTION. A provider reversing an unlawful charge shall also reverse interest and consequential fees directly attributable to that charge and correct information it furnished concerning the unlawful component.

(b) DISPUTED AMOUNTS. A provider shall not offset a valid consumer refund against a disputed unlawful fee or sell that fee as an enforceable receivable.

(c) OTHER LAW. This title supplements the Truth in Lending Act, Electronic Fund Transfer Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and applicable debt-collection law. It does not authorize evasion of a stronger protection or excuse repayment of lawful principal.

SEC. 1201. TICKET OFFERS AND SPECULATIVE SALES.

(a) DISCLOSURES. A ticket offer shall identify the total price; event, date, and seat or admission category; whether it is a resale; material transfer restrictions; required delivery method; and the seller’s possession or enforceable right to supply the ticket.

(b) NO FICTIONAL INVENTORY. A person shall not sell an identified ticket without possessing it or having an enforceable allocation or right to obtain it. A separately described procurement service may be offered if it clearly states that no ticket is guaranteed, does not purport to transfer a ticket, and provides a full refund if the promised procurement is not completed.

(c) AFFILIATIONS. A reseller affiliated with the venue, promoter, primary seller, or performer shall disclose that relationship. A reseller possessing reliable original face-price information shall identify it separately from the current total resale price.

(d) BOTS AND SCARCITY. A seller shall not use a false seat map, fabricated queue, or undisclosed speculative inventory to induce purchase. This section supplements, and does not limit, existing prohibitions on circumvention of ticket-purchase controls.

SEC. 1202. TICKET CANCELLATIONS AND MATERIAL CHANGES.

(a) REFUND. If an event is canceled, the consumer is entitled to a refund of the total price paid, including mandatory fees. A marketplace that collected the payment shall provide the refund without requiring the consumer to pursue the organizer first.

(b) CHANGES. If an event is rescheduled to a different calendar date, moved to a materially different location, or changed in a manner that removes an expressly promised principal performance, the consumer shall receive notice and at least 14 days to elect a refund, or through the revised event date if sooner.

(c) NO FORCED CREDIT. A seller shall not replace a requested refund with a voucher or additional event credit without affirmative consent.

(d) RECOVERY BETWEEN ENTERPRISES. This section does not prevent contractual recovery between the marketplace, seller, venue, and organizer, but those arrangements shall not delay the consumer’s statutory remedy.

SEC. 1203. AIRFARE AND OTHER TRAVEL PRICES.

(a) TOTAL OFFER. An airfare, rail, bus, ferry, cruise, package-tour, or other travel offer shall include all carrier-imposed mandatory charges and calculable government charges for the itinerary as presented.

(b) SELECTED EXTRAS. A running total shall include the baggage, seat, boarding, meal, or other genuinely optional services affirmatively selected by the consumer. A service necessary to use the itinerary as advertised shall not be represented as optional.

(c) ACCESSIBILITY. A carrier shall not impose an additional charge for an accommodation it is legally required to provide without charge.

(d) FAMILY SEATING. When a carrier offers assigned seating, it shall provide a reasonable method for seating a child under 14 adjacent to an accompanying adult without a mandatory seat-selection charge, subject to genuine safety or operational constraints documented by the carrier. A carrier shall not use avoidable booking-interface restrictions to manufacture such a constraint.

(e) EXISTING REFUNDS. This title does not narrow a refund, delay, cancellation, or ancillary-fee protection independently established under transportation law.

SEC. 1204. LODGING, VACATION RENTALS, AND PACKAGES.

(a) LODGING TOTAL. A lodging offer shall include mandatory cleaning, resort, destination, host, platform, linen, booking, and facility charges for the selected stay. A nightly illustration shall be accompanied by the full stay total with at least equal prominence.

(b) DEPOSITS AND INCIDENTS. Deposits, holds, and genuinely contingent damage charges shall comply with sections 204 and 304. A routine cleaning charge necessary for ordinary use is mandatory, not damage.

(c) PACKAGE COMPONENTS. A package shall identify included components and every unavoidable local or on-arrival payment reasonably known to the organizer.

(d) AVAILABILITY. A seller shall not advertise a package discount based on a component price that was never genuinely offered or an unavailable component.

SEC. 1205. RENTAL VEHICLES, TOLLS, FUEL, AND CHARGING.

(a) QUOTE. A rental quote shall include mandatory facility, concession, vehicle, energy, administrative, and required-insurance charges, and separately identify lawful optional coverage and authorization holds.

(b) TOLLS. Before rental, a provider shall disclose toll-payment options, actual toll liability, and any administrative charge. A toll-program daily administration charge may be assessed only for days on which the consumer actually incurs a toll processed through the program, and shall comply with section 304. A seller shall not charge for every rental day merely because the vehicle is equipped with a transponder.

(c) REAL CHOICE. If a provider represents toll service as optional, the consumer shall receive a reasonably usable way to avoid the optional administrative service consistent with the road system’s payment rules.

(d) FUEL AND ENERGY. Return-fuel or charging requirements shall state the measurement method, required level, per-unit replenishment price, and any separate actual service charge. The seller shall not charge for energy not supplied or use an undisclosed calculation to multiply ordinary replenishment cost.

(e) DAMAGE. A rental provider shall not automatically treat a manufacturer’s suggested new-part price as the consumer’s liability without applying section 304.

SEC. 1206. DELIVERY PLATFORMS AND PRIORITY SERVICES.

(a) COMPLETE TOTAL. A delivery platform shall display the item price, mandatory delivery and service charges, and full basket total before payment information is requested.

(b) MARKUPS. A platform shall not falsely represent app prices as identical to in-store prices. If the platform itself imposes a markup or possesses reliable current information establishing one, it shall clearly disclose the existence of the markup without requiring disclosure of confidential commercial negotiations.

(c) FEE DESTINATION. The platform shall truthfully identify whether a separately described worker, restaurant, regulatory, or public-benefit charge is paid to the represented recipient.

(d) PRIORITY. A priority-delivery fee may be charged only for a genuine, described service advantage that the platform reasonably expects to supply. If the promised priority is not supplied, the fee shall be refunded.

(e) GRATUITIES. Section 302 governs tips. Nothing in this title limits lawful worker compensation or requires a worker to accept an assignment.

SEC. 1207. MOTOR-FUEL AND ELECTRIC-VEHICLE PRICE DISPLAYS.

(a) UNIT. A fuel pump or charging station shall display the total applicable unit rate and separately identify time-based, session, parking, membership, or idle charges before authorization.

(b) METERING. The seller shall use an accurate disclosed measure of fuel, energy, or service time and shall not bill energy-delivery time during a station-caused failure to supply energy.

(c) IDLE CHARGES. An idle charge shall include a reasonable disclosed grace period and an accessible warning mechanism. A consumer shall not be charged an idle penalty for a seller-controlled malfunction that prevents completion or disconnection.

(d) SURVEILLANCE. A price shall not be increased because the system infers urgency from the consumer’s remaining battery or fuel level.

SEC. 1208. NONCONSENSUAL TOWING AND VEHICLE STORAGE.

(a) DISCLOSURE. A commercial towing or storage provider shall make its applicable rates, maximum charges, release hours, and dispute method publicly available and provide an itemized bill before payment.

(b) RESTRICTIONS. The provider shall not impose duplicate dispatch charges, a storage charge for time during which the provider unreasonably prevents collection during represented release hours, or a charge for exercising a statutory dispute right.

(c) RELEASE. Payment of lawful undisputed charges and reasonable assurance for a genuinely disputed balance shall not be obstructed solely to extract an unlawful charge. The Commission shall establish a prompt neutral process for disputed release conditions, preserving valid liens and public-safety holds established by law.

(d) PUBLIC RATES. A lower charge or more protective release procedure established by a competent public authority is preserved.

SEC. 1301. OWNERSHIP, LICENSES, AND SUPPORT PERIODS.

(a) ACCURATE TERMS. A seller shall not use “buy”, “own”, or a materially equivalent representation for a digital product in a manner implying permanent usable possession when access materially depends on a revocable license, continued subscription, or a server the seller may discontinue.

(b) DISCLOSURE. Before payment, the seller shall clearly state the nature and duration of access; material offline capabilities; account and connectivity requirements; transfer restrictions; the minimum promised support period; and circumstances in which access may be terminated.

(c) CONNECTED GOODS. A physical product requiring a paid digital service for an advertised core function shall disclose that service’s current total price and minimum required commitment as part of the offer.

(d) RIGHTS. A license description does not waive a consumer’s statutory remedy for nondelivery, breach of an express promise, or a material misrepresentation.

SEC. 1302. REMOVAL OF PAID FEATURES AND SERVICE SUNSETS.

(a) PROHIBITION. During an expressly promised paid term, a seller shall not move a purchased core function behind a new paywall or remove a material paid feature without the consumer’s consent, except as provided in subsection (c).

(b) REMEDIES. If continued lawful supply is not reasonably possible, the seller shall provide an effective restoration or substitute accepted by the consumer, or a proportionate monetary refund for the unprovided promised benefit. A consumer shall not be forced to purchase a higher tier to retain an already paid-for function.

(c) SAFETY AND LAW. A change reasonably necessary to comply with law or address a substantial security threat may be made without prior consent, but shall be no broader than necessary and shall not eliminate a refund or other remedy for a materially unprovided paid benefit.

(d) SUNSET NOTICE. A planned termination of an online service material to a paid product shall ordinarily be announced at least 90 days in advance, with a reasonable method to export consumer-created content and obtain any refund due. This subsection does not require operation beyond a genuinely unforeseeable impossibility.

SEC. 1303. CLOSED-LOOP DIGITAL CURRENCY AND CREDITS.

(a) SCOPE. This section applies to a paid digital balance usable primarily for goods or services within a seller’s game, app, platform, or affiliated commercial system. It does not regulate the market price of a security, general-purpose currency, or legally authorized gambling product.

(b) REAL-CURRENCY PRICE. At purchase and at the point of spending, the seller shall display the equivalent United States dollar cost attributable to the paid balance and distinguish earned or promotional units from purchased units.

(c) EXACT AMOUNT. The seller shall offer a way to purchase the amount needed for a selected item without requiring a materially larger currency bundle. A genuine optional bulk discount may be offered alongside that method.

(d) EXPIRATION AND REFUNDS. Purchased balances shall not expire or incur dormancy fees. On closure of the consumer’s account or termination of the service, an unused purchased balance shall be refundable at its actual acquisition value, subject to reasonable fraud verification and unclaimed-property law. Promotional balances may have clearly disclosed conditions.

(e) RECORDS. The seller shall maintain a ledger sufficient to distinguish purchased and promotional value without requiring unnecessary identity documents.

SEC. 1304. MINORS AND RANDOMIZED PAID REWARDS.

(a) KNOWN MINORS. A covered person with actual knowledge that a consumer is under 18, or operating a service directed primarily to minors, shall not sell that consumer a paid chance-based digital reward whose principal economic feature is an uncertain prize. This restriction does not prohibit a disclosed purchase of a specified item or a reward earned without payment.

(b) OTHER CONSUMERS. A lawful paid randomized reward offered to adults shall disclose the material odds, price, and duplicate-item treatment before purchase. Odds shall not be secretly changed based on the consumer’s spending, losses, or inferred vulnerability.

(c) PARENTAL CONTROLS. A service enabling purchases by a known minor shall provide a reasonable purchase-approval mechanism and a spending ceiling chosen by the authorized account holder. The seller shall refund a charge that exceeded a recorded ceiling or approval condition because of its own system failure.

(d) PRIVACY. This section does not require universal identity-document collection or facial analysis. The Commission shall prescribe privacy-protective methods consistent with applicable children’s privacy law.

(e) NO GAMBLING AUTHORIZATION. Compliance does not authorize an otherwise unlawful gambling activity.

SEC. 1305. AUTOMATED AND ARTIFICIAL-INTELLIGENCE USAGE CHARGES.

(a) PRICE UNITS. A usage-priced computational service shall disclose the billable units, minimum increments, storage or retention charges, tool charges, and any different rates for inputs, outputs, cached material, or automated retries where applicable.

(b) TASK BUDGET. Before an automated task expected to incur variable charges, the consumer shall be able to approve a maximum amount or another objectively determinable limit. The seller shall not charge beyond that limit without further affirmative authorization.

(c) FAILURES. A seller shall not charge for an automated retry loop caused by its own material malfunction or for an operation represented as completed that was not performed, except for a separately disclosed and genuinely supplied partial service.

(d) TRANSPARENCY LIMIT. This section requires economic explanations of charges, not disclosure of private reasoning traces, source code, security credentials, or another user’s content.

SEC. 1306. REPAIR ESTIMATES AND ACCESS.

(a) ESTIMATES. A repair provider shall disclose diagnostic charges, labor rates, expected parts costs, maximum authorized expenditure, and any fee for declining the proposed repair. Additional work requires a change order under section 207.

(b) PARTS OFFERED TO A NETWORK. A manufacturer that makes repair parts, diagnostic tools, or service documentation commercially available to an authorized repair network shall make functionally equivalent access available to a consumer or qualified independent repairer on reasonable, nondiscriminatory commercial terms, subject to subsection (c).

(c) SAFEGUARDS. Access may be limited to the extent reasonably necessary to protect safety, personal data, cryptographic security, or a specifically identified legal restriction. A manufacturer shall substantiate the necessity and use a less restrictive method where reasonably available. This section does not require public release of a master security key or authorize copyright infringement.

(d) PRICING. A manufacturer shall not impose a discriminatory access charge principally to prevent a lawful independent repair. A documented additional distribution, training, or safety cost may justify a reasonable difference.

SEC. 1307. WARRANTIES AND OPTIONAL PROTECTION PLANS.

(a) DISCLOSURE. A seller shall identify the price, duration, coverage, exclusions, deductible, cancellation terms, and material overlap between an optional protection plan and an existing manufacturer warranty or statutory right.

(b) NO FALSE NECESSITY. A seller shall not represent an optional plan as necessary to exercise a legal remedy or obtain service already included in the purchase.

(c) REPAIR CHOICE. A seller shall not represent that use of an independent repairer automatically voids all warranty coverage unless that statement is legally accurate. A denial attributable to an independent repair shall identify the actual causal basis for denying the particular claim.

SEC. 1401. MOTOR-VEHICLE SALES.

(a) OUT-THE-DOOR PRICE. A vehicle seller shall provide a written total cash price including mandatory dealer charges and calculable taxes before requesting a deposit or credit application for a specific vehicle.

(b) TRADE-IN AND CREDIT. The offer shall separately identify the trade-in value, any negative equity, cash down payment, amount financed, and optional products. A monthly-payment discussion shall not obscure the vehicle’s price or the total credit obligation.

(c) CONDITIONS. A rebate or financing incentive shall not be included in the principal advertised price unless its material eligibility conditions are equally prominent and the price is genuinely attainable by the represented audience.

(d) COMPLETED TRANSACTIONS. After a sale represented as final, a seller shall not demand a higher price or more expensive credit merely because its preferred financing arrangement failed. A genuinely conditional agreement shall disclose the condition, outside decision date, and the consumer’s right to return the vehicle and obtain return of payments and an available trade-in without an undisclosed penalty if financing is not obtained.

SEC. 1402. EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND REQUIRED MATERIALS.

(a) COST STATEMENT. A school, training program, or credentialing service marketing a paid consumer program shall disclose the expected program duration and total known mandatory tuition, enrollment, technology, laboratory, examination, and completion charges for that duration.

(b) VARIABLE PERIODS. If future academic-year charges have not been established, the provider shall disclose the current annual total, identify which later amounts are estimates, and state the method and timing for announcing changes. It shall not represent a current-year price as the guaranteed program total.

(c) REQUIRED PURCHASES. Mandatory books, equipment, subscriptions, or third-party tests controlled or specified by the provider shall be identified before commitment, with reasonably available cost estimates.

(d) MARKETING. A scholarship or discount shall be measured against a genuine price. A material earnings, placement, or completion claim used to justify the price shall be supported by reliable evidence and shall identify material limitations.

(e) RECORDS. A provider shall not withhold a credential, transcript, or completion record solely to collect a charge invalid under this Act. This subsection does not invalidate a separate lawful obligation or alter an academic standard.

SEC. 1403. CHILDCARE, ELDERCARE, AND PERSONAL CARE.

(a) PRICES. Before enrollment or admission, a provider shall disclose the total required recurring charge and the treatment of meals, supplies, transportation, staffing-related services, absences, closures, late pickup, and required deposits.

(b) CHANGE IN NEEDS. A higher level-of-care charge requires a description of the additional service and its price before imposition, except for objectively necessary urgent care where prior notice is impracticable.

(c) EMPTY PERIODS. A reserved-capacity charge during an absence may be imposed only if clearly agreed in advance and not contrary to other law. A provider shall not charge for capacity it has resold to another consumer for the same period without an appropriate offset.

(d) CONTINUITY. This section does not authorize abandonment of a child or dependent adult or a discharge prohibited by care or safety law.

SEC. 1404. FUNERAL, CEMETERY, AND END-OF-LIFE SERVICES.

(a) ITEMIZATION. A provider shall supply an itemized price list electronically where it maintains a website, by telephone for requested items, and in durable form on request before commitment, without requiring a death certificate or a detailed account of family circumstances.

(b) CHOICE. A provider shall not condition purchase of a desired service on an unnecessary bundle unless required by law or technically necessary for the requested service and clearly explained.

(c) LEGAL CLAIMS. A provider shall not falsely state that embalming, a particular container, a vault, or another purchase is legally required.

(d) PREPAYMENTS. A prepaid arrangement shall identify who holds the funds, whether the price is guaranteed, refund and transfer rights, and consequences if the provider ceases operations. This section does not displace stronger trust, insurance, or cemetery regulation.

SEC. 1405. MOVING, HOME SERVICES, AND GOODS HELD FOR PAYMENT.

(a) ESTIMATES. A moving or home-service provider shall state the scope, included labor and materials, travel charges, storage conditions, and whether its estimate is binding.

(b) CHANGES. Additional charges require an authorized change order under section 207, except for the narrowly defined emergency work permitted there.

(c) POSSESSION. A provider shall not hold household goods, disable installed equipment, or withhold an essential access credential solely to collect an undisclosed or unlawful charge. This subsection does not eliminate a valid lien for an unpaid lawful amount, but a lien shall not secure a charge void under this Act.

(d) DISPUTE. The responsible agency shall provide a prompt referral mechanism for disputes involving possession of essential household property and may seek expedited judicial relief.

SEC. 1406. DISTANCE-SALE WITHDRAWAL FOR ORDINARY GOODS.

(a) RIGHT. A consumer purchasing a tangible good without an in-person opportunity to examine it may cancel without stating a reason within 14 days after delivery and return the good within 14 days after giving notice.

(b) REFUND. The seller shall refund the purchase price and the charge for the least expensive standard outbound delivery offered. The seller may withhold the refund until receipt of the returned good or reasonable proof of dispatch, whichever occurs first. A consumer may be required to pay the direct return-shipping cost only if clearly disclosed before purchase.

(c) CONDITION. The seller may deduct actual diminished value caused by handling beyond what is reasonably necessary to examine the good’s nature and function. It shall not impose a general restocking penalty or refuse a return solely because ordinary protective packaging was opened.

(d) EXCEPTIONS. This section does not apply to perishable goods; genuinely bespoke goods produced to individual specifications; sealed goods unsuitable for return for objective hygiene or health reasons after the seal is broken; medicines where return would violate safety law; a dated travel, lodging, admission, or reserved-capacity service; a titled motor vehicle or real property; financial or insurance products; or a completed service. Selecting a standard size or color does not by itself make a good bespoke.

(e) DISCLOSURE FAILURE. If the seller fails to disclose the right before purchase and in the confirmation, the withdrawal period extends until 14 days after proper notice, but not beyond one year after delivery.

(f) OTHER RIGHTS. This section does not limit a remedy for a defective, misdescribed, unauthorized, or undelivered item and does not create a right to consume a digital service without payment.

SEC. 1407. PRACTICAL PAYMENT ACCESS FOR ESSENTIAL RETAIL PURCHASES.

(a) IN-PERSON ACCESS. A retailer selling essential goods from a staffed physical establishment shall provide at least one method for an in-person consumer to pay cash for a transaction not exceeding $500 without an added charge or a mandatory consumer account.

(b) EQUIVALENT METHOD. A free on-premises mechanism converting cash to an immediately usable payment instrument satisfies subsection (a) if it gives change or preserves the full unused value and does not require unnecessary identification.

(c) EXCEPTIONS. This section does not apply to wholly remote transactions, unattended facilities, or a temporary documented safety failure. The Commission may establish narrowly tailored security exceptions for a particular class of facilities with a reasonably accessible equivalent payment option.

(d) OTHER LAW. A provider need not accept counterfeit currency, an unreasonable denomination, or a transaction prohibited by financial-crime law.

SEC. 1408. CAPTIVE-MARKET COMMERCIAL CHARGES.

(a) COVERAGE. A private enterprise supplying a mandatory or practically unavoidable consumer service through an exclusive concession, custodial facility, required institutional program, or similar captive arrangement shall disclose the total price, available alternatives, and any revenue-sharing payment to the institution that materially affects the charge.

(b) NO FALSE PASS-THROUGH. A concession payment or institutional commission shall not be represented as a government tax or unavoidable legal assessment unless it satisfies section 102(12).

(c) RIGHTS. A consumer’s inability to choose another supplier does not waive the fee, dispute, privacy, or emergency protections of this Act.

(d) LIMITS. This section does not alter a criminal sentence, public-benefit eligibility rule, or sovereign immunity, and does not authorize disclosure of protected facility-security information.

SEC. 1501. PROPORTIONATE RECORDKEEPING.

(a) RECORDS. A covered person shall retain for 6 years records reasonably sufficient to substantiate total-price representations, mandatory fees, reference-price claims, consent, material pricing-system versions, cost allowances claimed under title VI, and the resolution of billing complaints.

(b) ORDINARY RECORDS. Existing invoices, point-of-sale logs, accounting records, price lists, and equivalent records may satisfy this section. A small covered person need not record every price viewed by every visitor or create a new individualized surveillance log.

(c) INTERMEDIARIES. A pricing intermediary shall preserve information identifying relevant data categories, source restrictions, model versions, material customer instructions, and outputs reasonably necessary to investigate a particular challenged practice.

(d) LEGAL HOLDS. A person with notice of a reasonably anticipated investigation or litigation shall preserve relevant existing records without altering or selectively destroying them. A hold shall be reasonably scoped and ended when no longer necessary.

SEC. 1502. DATA MINIMIZATION AND RETENTION LIMITS.

(a) MINIMIZATION. Compliance records shall exclude personal data not reasonably necessary to verify a transaction, consent, lawful eligibility criterion, dispute, or pricing practice.

(b) SESSION IDENTIFIERS. Identifiable browsing and shopping-session information retained solely to document price presentation shall be deleted or irreversibly deidentified within 90 days unless necessary for a specific dispute, legal hold, or another independently lawful recordkeeping duty.

(c) ACCOUNT RECORDS. Subsection (b) does not require deletion of ordinary billing, credit, insurance, tax, warranty, or consent records legitimately needed for the periods applicable to those records.

(d) NO SECONDARY EXPLOITATION. Data obtained solely to exercise a right or comply with this Act shall not be sold, used for advertising, or used for surveillance pricing.

SEC. 1503. SECURITY, PRIVILEGE, AND CONFIDENTIAL SUBMISSIONS.

(a) CONTROLS. Agencies and covered persons shall employ reasonable access controls, encryption where appropriate, audit trails, and secure transfer methods for sensitive compliance information.

(b) PROTECTED INFORMATION. An agency may obtain necessary proprietary information through lawful investigative process, subject to applicable privilege, confidentiality, and protective-order requirements. A trade-secret assertion does not bar lawful confidential examination.

(c) PUBLIC RELEASE. Public reports shall omit personal data and protected trade secrets. Disclosure shall otherwise be governed by applicable public-records law; this Act does not create a blanket exemption for all pricing information.

(d) NO UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY. Nothing in this Act authorizes a warrantless search or circumvention of a legally required subpoena, warrant, or judicial order.

SEC. 1504. AGENCY DATA USE AND SHARING.

(a) PURPOSE. Information collected under this Act shall be used for enforcement, administration, redress, authorized research, and prevention of related fraud, not for commercial marketing.

(b) SHARING. An agency may share information with another competent enforcement authority under a written arrangement requiring confidentiality, purpose limitation, secure handling, and appropriate retention.

(c) CIVIL IMMIGRATION USE. A consumer’s complaint information or evidence of sensitive status submitted to obtain protection under this Act shall not be used for unrelated civil immigration enforcement. This subsection does not prohibit compliance with a judicial warrant concerning a separate serious criminal offense or action necessary to address an imminent threat of serious bodily harm.

(d) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. Sharing with a foreign authority shall be limited to a lawful consumer-protection or competition purpose and shall not disclose personal data beyond what is reasonably necessary and protected by the arrangement.

SEC. 1505. CONSUMER EVIDENCE AND CONFIDENTIALITY TERMS.

(a) EVIDENCE. A consumer may preserve and lawfully share the consumer’s own quote, receipt, bill, contract, price history, or transaction record for comparison, advice, research, or enforcement.

(b) INVALID RESTRICTIONS. A standard-form term shall not prohibit such use merely to conceal prices or prevent a report to an agency or court.

(c) LIMITS. This section does not authorize unlawful recording, computer intrusion, disclosure of another person’s medical information, or misappropriation of a trade secret not lawfully obtained through the consumer’s transaction.

SEC. 1506. PUBLIC PRICE RESEARCH AND COORDINATION RISKS.

An agency publishing market-wide price research shall use aggregation, delay, suppression of small cells, and other reasonable methods to prevent reidentification of consumers or disclosure of nonpublic competitively sensitive information. The agency shall not establish a public exchange of competitors’ future pricing intentions in the name of transparency.

SEC. 1601. EXPRESS FEDERAL AUTHORITY.

(a) COMMISSION. The Commission shall administer and enforce this Act. Solely for enforcement of this Act, the Commission’s authority extends to covered persons notwithstanding an exclusion concerning corporate form, nonprofit status, banks, savings associations, Federal credit unions, common carriers, air carriers, or other industries in sections 4 or 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

(b) INDEPENDENT CAUSE. The Commission may investigate a suspected violation and bring a civil action in a United States district court in its own name through attorneys it designates, seeking relief expressly authorized by title XVII. This authority does not depend on section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

(c) LIMIT. This extension does not confer general ratemaking, bank prudential supervision, insurance solvency regulation, or jurisdiction over unrelated conduct outside this Act.

SEC. 1602. SECTORAL AUTHORITY AND COORDINATION.

(a) CONCURRENT ENFORCEMENT. Subject to the substantive limits of this Act, the following agencies may enforce this Act with respect to their listed sectors:

(1) the Department of Transportation, for air transportation and other transportation within its statutory responsibilities;

(2) the Federal Communications Commission, for communications services;

(3) the Department of Health and Human Services, for health-care, pharmacy, and health-insurance pricing;

(4) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for consumer financial products and services;

(5) the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and National Credit Union Administration, for institutions they supervise;

(6) the Department of Labor, for employee-benefit arrangements within its jurisdiction;

(7) the Department of Education, for education providers within its jurisdiction; and

(8) the Department of Justice, for competition violations and other enforcement referred to or undertaken by the Attorney General under this Act.

(b) CONSULTATION. The Commission shall consult the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture, and Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, relevant State regulators, and other competent bodies concerning their sectors.

(c) LEAD AGENCY. Within 90 days after enactment, the agencies shall publish a coordination agreement identifying ordinary lead responsibilities, complaint referral procedures, secure data sharing, and avoidance of duplicate demands. A failure to agree does not suspend a statutory duty or bar timely enforcement.

(d) NO EXEMPTION BY AGREEMENT. An interagency agreement shall not exempt an industry or authorize a practice prohibited by this Act.

SEC. 1603. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY AND LIMITS.

(a) PROCEDURE. Rules under this Act shall be issued under section 553 of title 5, United States Code. The rulemaking procedures in section 18 of the Federal Trade Commission Act do not apply to rules issued solely under this Act.

(b) SPECIFICITY. A rule shall identify its statutory authority, factual basis, compliance method, reasonably foreseeable burdens, and consideration of less burdensome alternatives providing equivalent protection.

(c) BOUNDARIES. A rule may specify technical formats, measurement methods, and narrowly authorized exceptions, but shall not waive a core prohibition, create a general economy-wide price ceiling, or enlarge an agency’s substantive authority beyond this Act.

(d) REGULATORY COORDINATION. Agencies shall use existing compatible disclosures where those disclosures supply the information required by this Act, rather than impose redundant forms with inconsistent calculations.

(e) SMALL ENTERPRISES. Rules shall include the analysis required by applicable regulatory-flexibility and paperwork laws and shall consider simple, nonproprietary implementation methods.

SEC. 1604. DEADLINES AND OPERATIVE STATUTORY DUTIES.

(a) IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE. Within 90 days after enactment, the Commission shall publish a rulemaking and implementation schedule and interim nonbinding model disclosures.

(b) RULES. Rules necessary for standardized unit prices, digital price feeds, algorithmic assessments, health-estimate coordination, financial cost methods, and accessibility shall be finalized not later than 365 days after enactment, except that a joint technical rule may receive one publicly explained extension not exceeding 180 days.

(c) SELF-EXECUTION. A clear statutory prohibition or duty takes effect under section 2006 even if an agency has not completed implementing regulations. A covered person shall not be penalized for failing to use an unpublished technical format where it complies with the underlying statutory information requirement.

(d) REVIEW. Agencies shall review rules at least once every 5 years and amend them when evidence supports a change. Review does not require unnecessary replacement of an effective rule.

SEC. 1605. COMPLAINT AND REFERRAL SYSTEM.

(a) ACCESS. The Commission shall operate a single public entry point for complaints under this Act, with online, telephone, and postal options, disability access, and reasonably needed language assistance.

(b) EVIDENCE. The system shall accept receipts, bills, screenshots, contracts, recordings lawfully obtained, and explanations. A consumer shall not be required to identify the correct statute or agency.

(c) ROUTING. Complaints shall be routed to the competent agency or participating State or Tribal authority. The system shall acknowledge receipt and explain whether it provides individual dispute resolution, enforcement intake, or both.

(d) ACCURACY. A complaint count is not a finding of a violation. Public dashboards shall distinguish allegations, resolutions, and adjudicated outcomes.

SEC. 1606. CONSUMER EDUCATION AND BUSINESS GUIDANCE.

The Commission shall maintain plain-language consumer rights materials, sector-specific business guides, model price labels, sample receipts, cancellation interfaces, dispute templates, and open technical standards. Materials shall be accessible and usable without purchasing proprietary compliance software. Guidance shall clearly distinguish statutory requirements, binding rules, and nonbinding recommendations.

SEC. 1607. INSPECTIONS AND INFORMATION DEMANDS.

(a) PROCESS. An agency may issue a reasonably specific civil investigative demand for information relevant to a suspected violation or authorized market study, identifying the authority, subject matter, requested records, and response period.

(b) REVIEW. The recipient may petition the agency to narrow or set aside a demand and may obtain judicial review before judicially compelled production. An agency shall apply proportionality, privilege, and confidentiality protections.

(c) NO GENERAL SURVEILLANCE. This authority does not permit indiscriminate collection of consumer browsing histories unrelated to a defined inquiry or continuous remote access to a business system without lawful agreement or judicial authorization.

(d) BUSINESS CONTINUITY. An agency shall use reasonably practicable methods that preserve evidence without unnecessarily disrupting lawful essential services.

SEC. 1701. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT AND BURDEN OF PROOF.

(a) ACTIONS. An authorized Federal agency, a State attorney general under section 1706, or an injured consumer under section 1707 may bring an action as provided in this title.

(b) STANDARD. Liability shall be established by a preponderance of the evidence. A higher level of culpability shall be required where expressly stated for an enhanced penalty or remedy.

(c) NO CRIMINAL OFFENSE CREATED. This Act does not create a criminal offense for a pricing or billing violation. Existing criminal fraud, obstruction, and other laws remain applicable according to their own elements.

(d) FAIR NOTICE. A civil penalty shall not be imposed for a reasonable interpretation of genuinely ambiguous statutory language before authoritative clarification where the person did not act deceptively, recklessly, or with knowledge of unlawful conduct. This limitation does not eliminate a duty to correct an unlawful charge or provide an available refund.

SEC. 1702. JUDICIAL ADJUDICATION AND INVESTIGATIVE REVIEW.

(a) COURT. Contested civil liability and monetary penalties sought by a Federal agency under this Act shall be determined in a United States district court, with a jury where the Constitution requires one.

(b) NOTICE. The defendant shall receive reasonable notice of the alleged conduct, claimed legal basis, relevant transactions or course of conduct, and relief sought.

(c) CHALLENGES. A person subject to an audit order or investigative demand may obtain judicial review of statutory authority, relevance, proportionality, confidentiality, and burden. A lawful preservation requirement may remain in force during review.

(d) REVIEW OF RULES. Final agency action is subject to judicial review under applicable provisions of title 5, United States Code. Nothing in this Act restricts a constitutional defense available in an enforcement action.

SEC. 1703. EXPRESS MONETARY AND EQUITABLE REMEDIES.

(a) FEDERAL AUTHORITY. In an action brought by an authorized enforcement authority, a court may order cessation of unlawful conduct; restitution and refunds; rescission or reformation of an affected contract; disgorgement of net profits causally attributable to the violation; correction of credit or billing records; factual corrective notices; and reasonably necessary prospective monitoring or compliance measures.

(b) NO PRIOR ORDER. Relief under subsection (a) may be awarded directly for a violation of this Act without a prior cease-and-desist order or a separate rulemaking determination.

(c) INJUNCTIONS. Temporary and preliminary relief shall comply with Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or an applicable State procedural rule. Relief shall be no broader than reasonably necessary to prevent or remedy the violation.

(d) DATA AND SYSTEMS. A court may require segregation or deletion of unlawfully obtained pricing data or restriction of an unlawful model function where necessary and proportionate. The court shall consider less disruptive effective alternatives and protection of unrelated lawful functions.

(e) REDRESS. Restitution shall return money or property wrongfully obtained and shall not be enlarged into an unrelated penalty. Disgorgement shall not duplicate restitution for the same proceeds.

SEC. 1704. CIVIL PENALTIES.

(a) NEGLIGENT VIOLATIONS. For a negligent violation, a court may impose not more than $1,000 per affected completed transaction, subject to an aggregate maximum for the same course of conduct in a calendar year equal to the greater of $250,000 or 1 percent of the covered person’s annual United States gross receipts.

(b) KNOWING OR RECKLESS VIOLATIONS. For a knowing or reckless violation, the maximum is $10,000 per affected completed transaction, subject to an aggregate maximum for the same course of conduct in a calendar year equal to the greatest of $1,000,000, 4 percent of annual United States gross receipts, or three times the unlawful net gain.

(c) AGGRAVATED VIOLATIONS. For a knowing violation involving prohibited surveillance of sensitive data, emergency price gouging, intentional evasion of essential-goods protections, or retaliation, the maximum is $25,000 per affected completed transaction, subject to an aggregate maximum for the same course of conduct in a calendar year equal to the greatest of $5,000,000, 8 percent of annual United States gross receipts, or three times the unlawful net gain.

(d) NONTRANSACTION CONDUCT. For a recordkeeping, certification, audit-obstruction, or other violation not reasonably measured by completed transactions, a court may impose not more than $10,000 for each materially distinct violation and not more than $10,000 for each day of knowing continuation after written agency notice, subject to the applicable aggregate maximum in subsection (b) or (c).

(e) COURT DISCRETION. These amounts are ceilings, not mandatory assessments. The court shall consider actual and potential harm, culpability, unlawful gain, repetition, business size, ability to pay, corrective efforts, quality of compliance controls, effects on innocent workers and consumers, and constitutional proportionality.

(f) COUNTING. A single checkout, monthly billing occurrence, or completed purchase is not multiplied into separate transactions because the same unlawful charge appeared on several screens or violated several overlapping provisions. A common course of conduct shall be assessed as a whole for the aggregate ceiling. Distinct transactions or separate annual continuation may be counted as specified in this section.

(g) REVENUE. Gross receipts shall be determined for the violating person and controlled entities materially participating in the relevant business operation, not an unrelated passive investor solely because of an investment relationship.

SEC. 1705. COORDINATION AND NO DUPLICATE RECOVERY.

(a) COMPENSATION. A consumer shall not recover the same monetary loss more than once through a refund, restitution award, damages award, or settlement under this Act. A court shall credit amounts actually received for the same loss.

(b) PENALTIES. Federal and State authorities enforcing this Act shall coordinate demands for civil penalties concerning the same person, transactions, and course of conduct. The aggregate statutory ceiling shall not be multiplied by the number of enforcing agencies.

(c) OTHER CLAIMS. An independent remedy under another law is not abolished, but a court shall prevent duplicative compensation and consider constitutional limits on cumulative punitive recoveries.

(d) NO PREEMPTIVE RELEASE. A settlement by an agency shall not release a consumer’s claim for uncompensated injury without lawful notice, authority, and procedural protection.

SEC. 1706. STATE AND TRIBAL PUBLIC ENFORCEMENT.

(a) STATE ACTIONS. The attorney general or other chief consumer-protection officer of a State may bring a civil action in a United States district court or a competent State court on behalf of residents to enforce this Act and seek the public remedies available under this title.

(b) NOTICE. The official shall provide prior written notice to the Commission when practicable, but may proceed immediately where delay would materially impair relief. The Commission may intervene but may not veto an otherwise authorized action.

(c) TRIBAL ACTIONS. The chief legal officer of a federally recognized Indian Tribe may bring an action in a United States district court to protect affected Tribal members or persons within the Tribe’s lawful territorial jurisdiction, subject to the same notice and coordination requirements.

(d) FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. A judicial action under this Act against a covered financial institution is expressly authorized. This subsection does not confer a general visitorial examination power or prudential supervisory authority on a State or Tribe.

(e) OWN LAW. Nothing in this section limits enforcement of an independently applicable State or Tribal law.

SEC. 1707. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.

(a) INJURY. A consumer suffering a concrete injury caused by a violation, including an unlawful payment, loss of a paid benefit, reasonable detrimental reliance, or a legally cognizable invasion of privacy, may bring a civil action in a United States district court or a competent State court. A bare procedural violation without concrete injury does not by itself establish Federal standing.

(b) DAMAGES. A prevailing consumer may recover actual damages or statutory damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 per affected transaction, at the consumer’s election. For a knowing violation, a court may award not more than three times actual damages instead of statutory damages. These measures shall not be stacked for the same injury.

(c) NONTRANSACTION PRIVACY INJURY. For a concrete privacy injury not tied to a completed transaction, statutory damages may be awarded once per consumer for a materially distinct unlawful pricing practice during a calendar year, within the range in subsection (b).

(d) OTHER RELIEF. A court may award appropriate declaratory or injunctive relief where standing exists, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to a prevailing consumer, and a refund or contract remedy not duplicating damages.

(e) DEFENDANT FEES. Fees may be awarded to a defendant only on a finding that the action was frivolous and brought in bad faith. Failure to prevail alone is insufficient.

(f) COLLECTIVE ACTION. Claims may proceed collectively where applicable procedural requirements are met. This Act does not dispense with proof of injury, causation, or other constitutional requirements for a class member seeking damages.

SEC. 1708. NONWAIVER AND ARBITRATION.

(a) NONWAIVER. A standard-form term purporting to waive a substantive right or remedy under this Act, shorten its limitation period, or prevent reporting to an authority is unenforceable to that extent.

(b) PREDISPUTE TERMS. Notwithstanding title 9, United States Code, at the election of the consumer bringing a claim under this Act, a predispute arbitration agreement or predispute joint-action waiver shall not be enforceable with respect to that claim arising from conduct occurring after the applicable effective date.

(c) COURT DETERMINATION. Applicability of subsection (b) shall be determined by a court under Federal law, notwithstanding a contractual delegation provision.

(d) VOLUNTARY RESOLUTION. A freely negotiated agreement to arbitrate or mediate after the dispute arises remains permissible. A seller shall not condition a statutory refund on accepting such an agreement.

(e) RELATED CLAIMS. This section does not automatically invalidate an arbitration agreement concerning an unrelated claim not arising under this Act.

SEC. 1709. LIMITATION PERIODS AND TOLLING.

(a) PERIOD. An action under this Act shall be commenced within 6 years after the violation. Each independently unlawful recurring charge is a separate occurrence; the continuing effect of a completed act alone is not a new violation.

(b) CONCEALMENT. A period shall be tolled while the defendant intentionally conceals material facts necessary to discover the violation and the claimant, exercising reasonable diligence, could not have discovered them.

(c) MINORS. A private claim belonging to a minor shall not expire before 2 years after reaching the age of majority, subject to otherwise applicable tolling protections.

(d) DISPUTE PROCESS. Use of a seller’s dispute process tolls the period for the time reasonably spent in that process, not exceeding 90 days, without making the process mandatory.

(e) NO RETROACTIVE LIABILITY. This Act does not impose liability for conduct completed before the provision governing that conduct took effect.

SEC. 1710. RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUALS, SUCCESSORS, AND INSOLVENCY.

(a) INDIVIDUALS. An officer, employee, or controlling person is personally liable only to the extent the person knowingly participated in, directed, or materially assisted a violation, or knowingly made a false required certification. A title alone is insufficient.

(b) EVASIVE TRANSFERS. A person shall not avoid redress through a fraudulent transfer or sham continuation under a new entity. A court may apply otherwise lawful successor, fraudulent-transfer, and alter-ego principles to preserve relief.

(c) INNOCENT ACQUISITIONS. This Act does not impose automatic liability on an arm’s-length purchaser solely because it acquires assets without participation in or notice sufficient to establish an otherwise applicable basis for successor liability.

(d) INSOLVENCY. Distribution priorities and discharge questions remain subject to applicable bankruptcy and insolvency law. An agency shall not promise recovery from assets that are not legally available.

SEC. 1711. WHISTLEBLOWERS AND ANTI-RETALIATION.

(a) PROTECTION. A covered person shall not retaliate against an employee, contractor, franchisee, vendor, or business customer for a reasonable good-faith report of a suspected violation, refusal to carry out an unlawful pricing instruction, or lawful assistance to an investigation.

(b) PROHIBITED ACTS. Retaliation includes discharge, demotion, withholding earned compensation, blacklisting, a knowingly baseless suit, an immigration-related threat, or termination of an unrelated commercial benefit because of protected activity.

(c) REMEDY. An injured person may bring an action within 3 years after the retaliation and seek reinstatement, restoration of commercial status where appropriate, twice lost compensation, other actual damages, and reasonable attorney’s fees.

(d) LEGITIMATE ACTION. A covered person may establish that the challenged action would have occurred for an independently sufficient lawful reason. This section does not immunize theft, unauthorized computer access, or another separate unlawful act merely because the person also reports a violation.

SEC. 1712. CORRECTIVE RELIEF AND ESSENTIAL ACCESS.

In fashioning relief, a court shall protect consumers against continuing violations while considering continuity of essential service, safety, privacy, and the effect on innocent employees and suppliers. A court may require an orderly corrective plan rather than immediate shutdown where that plan promptly stops the unlawful practice and adequately secures consumer redress. Business continuity does not excuse continued collection of an unlawful charge.

SEC. 1801. COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE.

(a) PROGRAM. The Commission shall provide small covered persons with free model disclosures, sample accounting methods, accessible receipt and cancellation templates, technical integration guidance, and training through existing small-business assistance networks.

(b) VOUCHERS. From amounts allocated under section 1902, the Commission may provide needs-based vouchers not exceeding $10,000, adjusted under section 1905, per independent small covered person for necessary, competitively procured compliance changes. A recipient shall certify actual use and shall not use funds for fines, lobbying, advertising, or ordinary replacement unrelated to compliance.

(c) INTEROPERABILITY. Assistance shall favor open formats and portable records and shall not require purchase from a designated private vendor.

(d) ACCESS. Independently operated franchisees may qualify under section 104. A franchisor controlling the unlawful system remains responsible for its own conduct.

SEC. 1802. FIRST TECHNICAL VIOLATION CURE.

(a) LIMITED PROTECTION. A small covered person shall not be assessed a civil penalty or statutory damages solely for a first nonwillful technical display, formatting, or recordkeeping violation if, within 30 days after adequate written notice, the person corrects the practice, adopts reasonable controls, and identifies and refunds all reasonably ascertainable unlawful overcharges within the applicable refund deadlines.

(b) FIRST VIOLATION. The protection is unavailable if the person received adequate written notice of a materially similar violation during the preceding 36 months.

(c) EXCLUSIONS. The protection does not apply to intentional deception, surveillance pricing, discrimination, emergency price gouging, coordination using prohibited competitor data, retaliation, collection of a charge known to be unlawful, or an attempt to conceal evidence.

(d) RIGHTS PRESERVED. Actual damages, restitution, refunds, and appropriate prospective relief remain available. A consumer need not provide notice or complete this process before seeking actual compensation or urgent judicial relief.

(e) NO GRACE PERIOD TO RETAIN MONEY. The 30-day correction period does not extend the deadline for returning money already determined to be unlawfully collected.

SEC. 1803. MODEL FORMS AND ADVISORY OPINIONS.

(a) FORMS. Good-faith use of an applicable official model form creates a rebuttable presumption of compliance with the form’s specified presentation requirements, not with the truth of the underlying information or legality of the charge.

(b) OPINIONS. The Commission may issue a written advisory opinion on a proposed practice based on a complete factual submission. Material terms shall be published with appropriate protection for confidential information.

(c) RELIANCE. Good-faith reliance on the conduct specifically approved protects against civil penalties until the opinion is withdrawn or materially relevant facts change. It does not eliminate a consumer’s right to actual compensation for an unlawful charge.

(d) WITHDRAWAL. An opinion may be withdrawn prospectively with at least 30 days’ notice, except where immediate withdrawal is necessary to prevent substantial harm or the applicant supplied materially false information.

SEC. 1804. PHASED TECHNICAL COMPLIANCE.

(a) EXTENSIONS. For a small covered person, the Commission may grant a class-wide extension of a technical implementation deadline for not more than 180 days upon public findings of actual infeasibility, limited consumer risk, and a defined interim method.

(b) NONEXTENDABLE DUTIES. An extension shall not authorize fraud, collection of an undisclosed known mandatory charge, emergency gouging, prohibited surveillance pricing, retaliation, or withholding of an established refund.

(c) NO INDIVIDUAL FAVORITISM. An extension shall apply on objective published criteria and shall not be conditioned on political support, trade-association membership, or use of a favored vendor.

SEC. 1805. LAWFUL BUSINESS PRACTICES.

(a) PRESERVATION. Subject to the express requirements of this Act and other law, a business may offer genuine discounts, negotiate lower prices, create new products, improve quality, reduce fees, use its own cost and inventory data, offer a lawful membership, or compete on service and price.

(b) NO LABEL SAFE HARBOR. Calling a practice a discount, innovation, test, membership, cost recovery, or consumer benefit does not exempt conduct otherwise prohibited.

(c) FRAUD CONTROLS. Reasonable measures against fraud, bots, stolen payment credentials, and abusive duplicate purchases remain permissible if proportionate, nondiscriminatory, and not used to evade cancellation, price locks, or refunds.

(d) TESTING. A business may test an interface or a lawful nonpersonal public offer without special approval, but shall not secretly assign a consumer a higher surveillance price or suppress required information as part of an experiment.

SEC. 1901. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) FIRST YEAR. There are authorized to be appropriated $350,000,000 for the first full fiscal year beginning after enactment to carry out this Act.

(b) FOLLOWING YEARS. There are authorized to be appropriated $300,000,000 for each of the next four fiscal years.

(c) PRICE BASIS. Amounts in this section and the allocations in section 1902 are expressed in September 2026 dollars and shall be adjusted under section 1905 before the applicable fiscal year.

(d) AUTHORIZATION ONLY. This section authorizes appropriations and does not itself provide budget authority. Program expenditures are subject to the availability of appropriations. Expiration of this authorization does not terminate the substantive rights or duties established by this Act.

SEC. 1902. ALLOCATIONS AND ELIGIBLE USES.

(a) ANNUAL BASE ALLOCATION. Of the $300,000,000 annual base authorized under section 1901:

(1) $200,000,000 is authorized for the Commission, including $50,000,000 for State and Tribal enforcement grants and $20,000,000 for small-business assistance;

(2) $40,000,000 is authorized for the Department of Health and Human Services;

(3) $20,000,000 is authorized for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau;

(4) $15,000,000 is authorized for the Department of Transportation;

(5) $10,000,000 is authorized for the Federal Communications Commission; and

(6) $5,000,000 each is authorized for the Departments of Labor, Education, and Justice.

(b) STARTUP ALLOCATION. The additional $50,000,000 for the first year is authorized as follows: $30,000,000 for the Commission; $10,000,000 for Health and Human Services; $5,000,000 for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; $2,000,000 each for Transportation and the Federal Communications Commission; and $1,000,000 for Labor.

(c) USES. Funds may support enforcement personnel, data scientists, economists, technical systems, accessible complaint handling, independent research, rulemaking, secure audits, small-business assistance, and consumer education. An agency shall not finance unrelated programs from these amounts.

(d) GRANTS. State and Tribal grants shall use objective criteria reflecting consumer population, need, cross-border market exposure, and demonstrated enforcement capacity. No non-Federal match is required. Participation is voluntary, and a recipient shall report use of funds and redress without disclosing protected complainant information.

(e) NO PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT BOUNTY. An agency shall not delegate prosecutorial discretion to a contractor paid as a percentage of penalties recovered.

SEC. 1903. CONSUMER REDRESS AND PENALTY ACCOUNTING.

(a) REDRESS. Money recovered for identified consumers shall be held and distributed for that purpose through a transparent accounting process, with reasonable notice and protection against fraudulent claims.

(b) UNCLAIMED FUNDS. After diligent distribution efforts and court approval, unclaimed redress shall be handled under applicable unclaimed-property or judicial distribution law. An agency shall not convert it to a general operating fund merely because distribution is inconvenient.

(c) PENALTIES. Civil penalties shall be deposited in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts unless another statute specifically directs otherwise.

(d) NO ASSUMED OFFSET. Program funding shall not depend on meeting a penalty or settlement revenue target.

SEC. 1904. CONSOLIDATED ANNUAL REPORT AND INDEPENDENT REVIEW.

(a) ANNUAL REPORT. Beginning 2 years after enactment, the Commission, jointly with participating agencies, shall submit one consolidated annual report to Congress and publish an accessible version.

(b) CONTENT. The report shall state enforcement activity, complaints and resolutions, actual restitution delivered, penalties collected, implementation costs, small-business burdens, market entry and exit, availability and waiting times for essentials, effects on worker compensation where measurable, privacy outcomes, and recommendations supported by evidence.

(c) PRICE MEASUREMENT. The report shall distinguish a change in the displayed price caused by inclusion of previously hidden charges from a change in the amount actually paid. Refunds shall be distinguished from net economic savings and from transfers among parties.

(d) COMPLAINT INTERPRETATION. An increase in complaints shall not by itself be treated as evidence that unlawful conduct increased or that the Act failed; the report shall consider awareness and access to reporting.

(e) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE. The Comptroller General shall review implementation, fiscal performance, administrative burden, and unintended consequences at years 3 and 5, and recommend whether funding, technical standards, or statutory scope should be adjusted.

SEC. 1905. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.

(a) INDEX. An amount expressly made adjustable under this Act shall be adjusted by the ratio of the most recently available September Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, United States city average, all items, to that index for September 2026.

(b) PUBLICATION. The Commission shall publish adjustments annually. Program appropriations shall be rounded to the nearest $100,000, grant and revenue thresholds to the nearest $1,000, and consumer fee ceilings to the nearest whole dollar. An adjusted amount shall not fall below its original nominal value.

(c) CIVIL PENALTIES. Civil penalties shall be adjusted under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 and otherwise applicable law, without duplicate adjustment under subsection (a).

(d) TIMING. If the September 2026 base index has not yet been published, the unadjusted statutory amount applies until an adjustment can lawfully be calculated. An adjustment applies prospectively. A consumer shall not owe a higher fee under an existing fixed contract merely because the statutory ceiling increased.

SEC. 1906. FIVE-YEAR POLICY REVIEW.

(a) REVIEW. At the end of the fifth year, Congress shall receive a public review of the Act’s effects on total amounts paid, price comparability, consumer autonomy, privacy, competition, supply continuity, compliance costs, and innovation.

(b) NO AUTOMATIC SUNSET. Failure to complete a report or enact reauthorization does not suspend a consumer protection or defense.

(c) RECOMMENDATIONS. The review shall identify areas where narrower or broader protection is justified and shall not treat increased nominal displayed prices alone as an adverse outcome.

SEC. 2001. NATIONAL FLOOR AND INTERPRETIVE RULES.

(a) FLOOR. Except as expressly provided in this title, this Act does not preempt a State, Tribal, territorial, or local law providing equal or greater consumer protection. Compliance with this Act is not a defense to a stronger independently applicable law.

(b) CONCURRENT COMPLIANCE. A covered person shall comply with both laws where possible. A technical format may be adapted to supply the information required by both without duplicating a misleading subtotal or omitting a material term.

(c) SPECIFIC PROVISIONS. A specific sectoral limit or shorter refund deadline in this Act controls over a more general provision to the extent of a direct conflict. An exception applies only to the duty expressly identified and does not immunize unrelated prohibited conduct.

(d) SAVINGS. Nothing in this Act reduces protection under antitrust, civil-rights, disability, privacy, product-safety, wage-and-hour, fair-housing, fair-lending, or applicable consumer-protection law.

SEC. 2002. EXPRESS COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL LAWS.

(a) INSURANCE. The provisions of this Act expressly governing insurance premiums, fees, disclosures, surveillance pricing, and remedies specifically relate to the business of insurance for purposes of the Act of March 9, 1945, commonly known as the McCarran-Ferguson Act. They apply notwithstanding section 2(b) of that Act to the extent necessary to enforce those specified Federal protections. State solvency regulation, lawful risk classification, and more protective consumer rules remain effective.

(b) EMPLOYEE BENEFITS. The Federal duties expressly imposed on an employee-benefit plan, insurer, or administrator by this Act are independently enforceable under this Act. Nothing in section 514 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 bars those Federal duties. This subsection does not alter plan-benefit entitlement, create duplicate recovery for the same benefit, or generally displace the remedial structure for a claim brought under that Act.

(c) TRANSPORTATION. Notwithstanding section 41713(b) or 14501(c)(1) of title 49, United States Code, a State may enforce generally applicable factual total-price and hidden-fee disclosure requirements to the extent they require accurate commercial price information and do not prescribe a carrier’s fare level, route, or service. State enforcement of this Act is separately authorized under section 1706.

(d) ARBITRATION AND PLATFORMS. Sections 1708 and 709 govern the specified relationships to title 9, United States Code, and section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, respectively. No broader displacement shall be inferred.

(e) SECURITIES AND EXCHANGES. This Act does not regulate the market price of a security, commodity traded on a regulated exchange, or foreign currency as an investment merely because its market price changes. Truthful disclosure of a separately charged consumer brokerage, transaction, or service fee remains required to the extent consistent with applicable securities disclosure law.

(f) NO IMPLIED FIELD PREEMPTION. Federal regulation of a sector alone does not excuse a covered person from an express duty under this Act. This subsection does not silently repeal a distinct Federal preemption provision not specifically addressed here.

SEC. 2003. PUBLIC ENTITIES AND SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.

(a) COMMERCIAL STANDARDS. A Federal agency or public enterprise voluntarily offering a commercial good or service to the public shall implement the applicable pricing and disclosure standards of this Act to the extent consistent with its governing statute. Its inspector general or other lawful oversight body shall review compliance.

(b) STATE AND TRIBAL ENTERPRISES. Applicable substantive duties extend to commercial activity in or affecting commerce without requiring a State, Tribe, or locality to enact legislation, appropriate funds, or administer a Federal program. Federal enforcement remains available to the extent permitted by the Constitution and other applicable law.

(c) IMMUNITY. This Act does not purport to abrogate State or Tribal sovereign immunity from private damages actions through the commerce power or create a new waiver of United States sovereign immunity. Existing lawful actions, waivers, Federal enforcement, and appropriate prospective relief against officials are not limited.

(d) PUBLIC FUNCTIONS. General tax administration, public fines, criminal sentencing, and determination of public-benefit eligibility remain outside the commercial pricing provisions except as expressly stated.

SEC. 2004. NONDELEGATION OF CORE POLICY AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.

(a) NO GENERAL PRICE BOARD. An agency may exercise only the category-designation, calculation, format, and enforcement powers specifically granted by this Act. It shall not create an unrestricted general price-control program by implication.

(b) REASONS. A final rule, designation, or renewal of an emergency measure shall state the relevant statutory criteria, evidence, alternatives considered, and response to material contrary evidence.

(c) REVIEW. Affected persons may seek judicial review under applicable law. Agency interpretation shall receive only the consideration permitted by governing judicial-review principles.

(d) REMEDIAL SCOPE. A court shall consider lawful narrower relief when a particular application is invalid, without rewriting an essential statutory limitation or eliminating unaffected consumer rights.

SEC. 2005. SEVERABILITY.

If a provision of this Act, a remedy, an application to a sector or person, or an implementing rule is held invalid, the remainder and its lawful applications shall not be affected. The disclosure, fee, surveillance, emergency, competition, dispute, and refund provisions are intended to operate independently to the extent administratively workable and consistent with their text.

SEC. 2006. EFFECTIVE DATES AND TRANSITION.

(a) ADMINISTRATION. Sections authorizing rulemaking, appropriations, research, guidance, and interagency coordination take effect on enactment.

(b) EMERGENCIES. Sections 604 through 609 take effect 7 days after enactment and apply only to prices charged or conduct occurring thereafter. A seller shall not be penalized for failing before enactment to create a record not otherwise required by law, but shall preserve available records relevant to a claimed cost defense.

(c) CORE RIGHTS. Title II, title III, and title IV take effect 180 days after enactment, except as provided below. During the period before the technical tax deadline, a covered person shall disclose known taxes separately with an accurate complete checkout total; after that deadline, the first-price tax requirements apply in full.

(d) ONE-YEAR DUTIES. Titles V through XIV, to the extent not governed by subsection (b) or another paragraph of this section, take effect 365 days after enactment. First-price tax integration under section 202 takes effect after 365 days, or 540 days for a small covered person. Core prohibitions already effective under title II or III remain effective in every otherwise covered sector during this transition.

(e) HEALTH SYSTEMS. Sections 1001, 1002, 1004, and 1007 take effect 540 days after enactment. For an employee-benefit plan requiring a plan-year change, compliance begins with the first plan year beginning after that date, but not later than 730 days after enactment.

(f) TECHNICAL SYSTEMS. Mandatory machine-readable formats under section 210, periodic independent audits under section 509(a), and manufacturer quantity-change data feeds under section 806 take effect on the later of 730 days after enactment or 180 days after the necessary final technical rule. Their underlying prohibitions on deception and unlawful prices are not delayed.

(g) SMALL RETAILERS. A small covered person shall comply with the unit-price and quantity-change display requirements in sections 804 and 805 not later than 730 days after enactment. It remains subject to truthful net-quantity, discount, and price representations before that date.

(h) RECORDS AND REMEDIES. Recordkeeping and enforcement provisions apply when the underlying substantive duty becomes effective. No person is required to reconstruct unavailable pre-effective-date records solely because a new retention duty is created.

(i) EXISTING AGREEMENTS. This Act applies to a new charge, renewal, or material amendment occurring after the relevant effective date, including under an earlier standard-form agreement, to the extent specified by the applicable substantive provision. It does not retroactively penalize a completed lawful transaction or authorize breach of an unaffected fixed-price promise.

(j) NO CONTRACTUAL EVASION. A covered person shall not use a nominal extension, automatic renewal, or affiliate transfer to treat future charges as completed pre-effective-date conduct.

SEC. 2007. BUDGET EXECUTION AND CONTINUING RIGHTS.

(a) EXPENDITURES. An agency shall implement this Act within available appropriations and applicable fiscal law. Nothing in this Act authorizes expenditure in excess of an appropriation.

(b) RIGHTS. Delay in an appropriation, technical procurement, interagency agreement, or report does not suspend a self-executing substantive right or an otherwise available private or public judicial remedy.

(c) CONSTRUCTION. This section does not require an agency to perform a funded program without legally available funds and does not convert an authorization into an appropriation.