2012 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 30 - Intoxicating Liquors
Chapter 545 - Liquor Control Act
Section 30-68m - Retail permittees; sales below cost prohibited; exception.

(a) No retail permittee shall sell at a price below his or her cost. For the purposes of this section, cost for the retail permittee for alcoholic liquor other than beer shall mean the posted bottle price from the wholesaler plus any charge for shipping or delivery to the retailer’s place of business paid by the retailer in addition to the posted price. For beer, cost for the retail permittee shall mean the lowest posted price during the month in which the retail permittee is selling plus any charge for shipping or delivery to the retailer’s place of business paid by the retail permittee in addition to the price originally paid by the retail permittee. As used in this section, the term retail permittee means the holder of a permit allowing the sale of alcoholic liquor for off-premises consumption.

(b) “Bottle price” means the price per unit of the contents of any case of alcoholic liquor, other than beer, and shall be arrived at by dividing the case price by the number of units or bottles making up such case price and adding to the quotient an amount that is not less than the following: A unit or bottle one-half pint or two hundred milliliters or less, two cents; a unit or bottle more than one-half pint or two hundred milliliters but not more than one pint or five hundred milliliters, four cents; and a unit or bottle greater than one pint or five hundred milliliters, eight cents.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a retail permittee may sell one beer item identified by a stock-keeping unit number or one item of alcoholic liquor other than beer identified by a stock-keeping unit number below his or her cost each month, provided the item is not sold at less than ninety per cent of such retail permittee’s cost, as defined in subsection (a) of this section. A retail permittee who intends to sell an item below cost pursuant to this subsection shall notify the Department of Consumer Protection of such sale not later than the second day of the month such item will be offered for sale.

(P.A. 81-294, S. 3, 22; P.A. 82-332, S. 6, 13; P.A. 93-139, S. 62; P.A. 05-240, S. 2; P.A. 12-17, S. 12.)

History: P.A. 82-332 amended section to limit application to holders of off-premises permits; P.A. 93-139 deleted a provision in Subsec. (b) which had allowed permittees to offer discounts on wine sold by the case prior to January 1, 1983, substituting definition of “bottle price”; P.A. 05-240 amended Subsec. (a) to differentiate “cost for the retail permittee” for beer, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 12-17 made technical changes in Subsec. (a) and added Subsec. (c) re below cost sale exception, effective May 14, 2012.