Maryland's Protection From Predatory Pricing Act Sets Precedent for State Dynamic Pricing Bans

Maryland's Protection From Predatory Pricing Act, enacted prior to New Jersey's Fair Price Protection Act, established an early legislative precedent for restricting dynamic and surveillance pricing at the state level.

The Maryland law specifically prevents grocers and third-party delivery services from using dynamic pricing or personal shopper data to set higher prices, with the stated goal of ensuring consumers see a clear, consistent price at checkout rather than a price that varies based on their individual data profile. The law has since been cited by lawmakers in other states, including New Jersey, as a model for subsequent legislation targeting algorithmic pricing practices in retail and grocery.

With Maryland and New Jersey both now having enacted restrictions and dozens of additional bills pending across roughly two dozen other states, pricing software vendors serving grocery and delivery clients are increasingly building state-by-state compliance and price-transparency features into their platforms as a standard requirement rather than an optional add-on.