Traders are not entitled to add a separate charge for the glass bottle when selling beer, the Commission for Consumer Protection (CCP) announced. The commission classifies this as an unfair commercial practice subject to sanctions under the Consumer Protection Act.
“Retail outlets are not entitled to sell beer with an additional separate charge for the bottle.”The CCP examined a complaint concerning Bulgarian beer whose price on the label was €0.55. An additional €0.22 was added for the bottle at the checkout. Thus, the consumer paid a total of €0.77 for the product.
For such a violation, the law provides for a fine ranging from €1,500 to €50,000. According to the CCP, the problem is that the customer learns about the additional charge only when the purchase is scanned at the checkout or after the payment has been made.
The inspection established that different beer brands were being sold in packages of different volumes. No separate prices for the glass bottles had been displayed at the outlet, nor had advance information about the possibility and conditions for returning the bottles been placed in the immediate vicinity of the products.
The CCP points out that in this way the trader withheld material information about the additional amounts consumers were required to pay. The price shown on the label did not correspond to the final amount requested at the checkout.
The commission also reported a similar case involving the sale of olives. A customer chose to take the product in a plastic bag instead of a box, but at the checkout discovered that the packaging had been charged separately at €0.18.
Since no price for the packaging had been indicated next to the olives, regardless of its type, the retail chain was fined €2,556, the CCP said.