Code of Massachusetts Regulations
202 CMR - DIVISION OF STANDARDS
Title 202 CMR 7.00 - Price Disclosure
Section 7.11 - Retail Checkout Systems, All Massachusetts Retailers

(1) Pursuant to the terms of M.G.L. c. 98, § 56D, the Director or the Director's inspectors and sealers of weights and measures and their deputies shall, in every 24 month period, examine and test the operation of all automated retail checkout systems in all establishments with three or more cash registers.

(2) Upon complaint to such officials, those officials shall examine and test the operation of any automated retail checkout system to determine whether the price which an item is offered or advertised for sale, including any advertised special price offered to a customer with a store-issued discount or loyalty card, conforms to the unit or net prices displayed to the customer on the visual display and conforms to the price for which a purchaser is charged by the automated retail checkout system to determine whether the total price for items purchased is correctly represented.

(3) Nothing shall prohibit the Director or the Director's inspectors and sealers and inspectors of weights and measures and their deputies from examining and testing any system at any time irrespective of the number of cash registers within the establishment.

(4) The Director or the Director's inspectors and sealers of weights and measures may issue notices of violations of M.G.L. c. 98, § 56D under the terms of M.G.L. c. 98, § 29A.

(5) If such examination and test reveals that there is evidence of price misrepresentation or information misleading or deceptive to the purchaser of items, or that consumer price scanners, as defined in M.G.L. c. 94, § 184B, do not meet the operational standards defined therein, the owner, manager or the designee of the owner or manager of a retail establishment using such automated checkout system shall be punished for the first failed inspection a civil fine of $200, for the second failed inspection by a civil fine of $500 and for any subsequent failed inspection by a civil fine of $1,000; provided, however, that there shall be no punishment for any inoperable consumer price scanner that is deployed for reasons other than to obtain an exemption from any law or regulation of the commonwealth requiring the individual price-marking of items offered for sale or for any inoperable consumer price scanner for which a retailer is able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the inspecting individual that the retailer has communicated in writing with an authorized repair agent, prior to the examination and test, requesting that the inoperable electronic scanner be repaired.

(6) For purposes of 202 CMR 7.11, consumer price scanners shall be deemed fully operational if they operate in the following manner:

(7) Each consumer price scanner shall display contact information for the division of standards to report broken scanners.

(8) Consumer price scanners shall be in compliance with 28 CFR Part 36: Appendix A: Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines and 521 CMR 7.00: Retail Establishments.

(9) Notwithstanding the method for determining the amount of civil fines under M.G.L. c. 98, § 29A, a civil citation may be issued for $200 for each violation, up to a maximum of $2,500 per inspection. Each item which scans erroneously shall constitute a separate civil violation.

(10) For purposes of 202 CMR 7.11, an automated checkout system shall mean a cash register, computer, terminal, consumer price scanner or other device capable of interpreting the universal product code or any other code with is on an item offered for sale to consumers used to determine the price of the item being purchased, regardless of whether the code entry is accomplished manually or automatically by a machine.