2021 New York Laws
GBS - General Business
Article 26 - Miscellaneous
396-R - Price Gouging.

§  396-r.  Price gouging. 1. Legislative findings and declaration. The
legislature hereby finds that during periods of abnormal  disruption  of
the  market caused by strikes, power failures, severe shortages or other
extraordinary adverse circumstances, some parties within  the  chain  of
distribution  of  goods  have  taken  unfair  advantage of the public by
charging grossly excessive prices for essential goods and services.
  In order to prevent any party within the chain of distribution of  any
goods  from  taking  unfair  advantage  of  the  public  during abnormal
disruptions of the market, the  legislature  declares  that  the  public
interest  requires  that  such conduct be prohibited and made subject to
civil penalties.
  2. During any abnormal disruption of the market for goods and services
vital and necessary for the health, safety and welfare of  consumers  or
the  general  public,  no party within the chain of distribution of such
goods or services or both shall sell or offer to sell any such goods  or
services  or  both  for  an  amount  which  represents an unconscionably
excessive price. For purposes of  this  section,  the  phrase  "abnormal
disruption  of  the market" shall mean any change in the market, whether
actual or imminently  threatened,  resulting  from  stress  of  weather,
convulsion  of  nature,  failure  or shortage of electric power or other
source of energy, strike, civil disorder, war, military action, national
or local emergency, or other cause of  an  abnormal  disruption  of  the
market  which  results in the declaration of a state of emergency by the
governor. For the purposes of this section, the term goods and  services
shall  include  (a) consumer goods and services used, bought or rendered
primarily for personal, family  or  household  purposes,  (b)  essential
medical  supplies  and  services  used  for  the care, cure, mitigation,
treatment or prevention of any illness or disease,  and  (c)  any  other
essential  goods  and  services used to promote the health or welfare of
the public. This prohibition shall apply to all parties within the chain
of  distribution,  including  any  manufacturer,  supplier,  wholesaler,
distributor  or  retail  seller of goods or services or both sold by one
party to another when the product sold was located in the state prior to
the sale. Goods and services shall also include any repairs made by  any
party within the chain of distribution of goods on an emergency basis as
a result of such abnormal disruption of the market.
  3.  Whether  a  price is unconscionably excessive is a question of law
for the court.
  (a) The court's determination that a violation  of  this  section  has
occurred  shall  be  based on any of the following factors: (i) that the
amount of the excess in price is unconscionably extreme;  or  (ii)  that
there  was  an  exercise  of unfair leverage or unconscionable means; or
(iii) a combination of both factors in subparagraphs  (i)  and  (ii)  of
this paragraph.
  (b)  In  any proceeding commenced pursuant to subdivision four of this
section, prima facie proof that a violation of this section has occurred
shall include evidence that:
  (i) the amount charged represents a gross disparity between the  price
of  the  goods or services which were the subject of the transaction and
their value measured by the price at which such goods or  services  were
sold  or  offered  for  sale  by  the  defendant  in the usual course of
business immediately prior to the onset of the  abnormal  disruption  of
the market; or
  (ii)  the  amount charged grossly exceeded the price at which the same
or similar goods or services were readily obtainable in the trade area.
  (c) A defendant may rebut a prima facie case with  evidence  that  (1)
the  increase  in the amount charged preserves the margin of profit that
the defendant received for the same  goods  or  services  prior  to  the

abnormal disruption of the market or (2) additional costs not within the
control  of the defendant were imposed on the defendant for the goods or
services.
  4.  Where a violation of this section is alleged to have occurred, the
attorney general may apply in the name of the People of the State of New
York to the supreme court of the State of New York within  the  judicial
district  in  which  such  violations  are  alleged to have occurred, on
notice of five days, for an order enjoining or restraining commission or
continuance of the alleged unlawful acts. In any  such  proceeding,  the
court  shall  impose  a  civil  penalty  in  an  amount  not  to  exceed
twenty-five thousand dollars per violation  or  three  times  the  gross
receipts  for  the relevant goods or services, whichever is greater and,
where appropriate, order restitution to aggrieved parties.
  5. The attorney general may promulgate such rules and  regulations  as
are necessary to effectuate and enforce the provisions of this section.