Two Pak’nSave Stores Fined NZ$580,500 for Repeated Pricing Errors

Two Pak’nSave supermarkets have been fined a combined NZ$580,500 in Auckland District Court after pleading guilty to inaccurate pricing that breached New Zealand’s Fair Trading Act. The Commerce Commission announced the penalties on October 30, New Zealand time, saying repeated pricing errors had misled customers. Pak’nSave Silverdale, in Auckland, was fined NZ$234,000 on 10 charges. Pak’nSave Mill Street, in Hamilton, was fined NZ$346,500 on 8 charges. Commerce Commission deputy chair Anne Callinan said: “Consumers are entitled to rely on accurate pricing.” The regulator said major supermarkets had long been warned that shelf-ticket prices must match the prices charged at the till, and that it would prosecute other supermarkets where it believed wrongdoing had occurred. The Commission said it was satisfied with the penalties available under current law, while arguing that the case demonstrated the need for the government’s review of the Fair Trading Act. Callinan said proposed higher penalties and a move to a civil regime would allow fines of up to NZ$5 million for each breach, compared with the current NZ$600,000 maximum. Those changes remain proposals. The regulator said it was awaiting the full written judgment and would publish it on its case register. A separate case concerning similar alleged conduct by Woolworths NZ remains ongoing; the company has pleaded not guilty.