Price mismatch at Latvian stores: what are your rights when the checkout price is higher than the shelf tag?

A reader named Māra contacted the Latvian news outlet LA.LV describing an experience at a grocery store, where she picked a specific brand of kefir because its shelf tag advertised a discounted price of 1.60 euros. At checkout, however, the cashier charged the full price of 2.49 euros. The cashier apologized, explaining that only the full price could be entered at the till, suggesting shelf staff may not have updated the price tag in time.

Māra asked what rights consumers have in such situations — whether she must accept paying the higher price or is entitled to buy the product at the price shown on the shelf.

What the Consumer Rights Protection Centre says

According to Linda Alsiņa, a representative of Latvia's Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC), when a higher price is discovered only at checkout, the buyer has the right to walk away from the purchase. However, a store cannot be forced to sell the item at the lower, shelf-listed price if it refuses to do so.

PTAC noted that such discrepancies mostly result from carelessness, most often outdated price tags that were not replaced in time, for instance due to staff shortages. Still, if a particular retailer is found to repeatedly display incorrect prices, this could be assessed as potentially unfair commercial practice.

Inspection findings

In the first half of this year, up to June 30, PTAC carried out 29 inspections of food product pricing to verify whether shelf prices matched the amounts charged at checkout. Discrepancies were found in 19 of these inspections, or 66% of cases.

The rules for price labeling are set out in Cabinet Regulation No. 178. Where prices are found to be displayed incorrectly, PTAC is authorized to launch administrative proceedings and impose fines.

In short, if a shopper finds at checkout that a product costs more than the shelf tag indicated, they are not obligated to buy it and may cancel the purchase — but they cannot compel the seller to honor the lower price.