The act of dramatically increasing prices on a product to take advantage of a scarcity caused by an emergency situation is called ‘gouging’. New Jersey has very strict laws banning certain businesses from dramatically increasing their prices in an emergency situation. Gasoline is chief among those products.
The Attorney General’s Office relishes going after businesses which violate these gouging laws. Whenever they catch one, the press releases go flying targeting the accused business. But its not only your business’ reputation that suffers, its your pocketbook. Many of the recent cases over the last few years have cost businesses thousands of dollars, even tens of thousands, especially once you include legal fees.
Whenever the gas gouging laws go into effect, NJGCA makes sure to alert its members through email. Here are a few examples of those warnings:
Last Road Warrior before Sandy struck
Road Warrior before Hurricane Irene
Wildfire Alert from July 2012 after gouging laws went into effect for South Jersey
Wildfire Alert just before Sandy
To view the language governing the law, click here