Two Pak'nSave stores fined NZ$580,500 for repeated misleading pricing
New Zealand's Commerce Commission has obtained criminal convictions against two Pak'nSave supermarkets for pricing errors that misled customers, in breach of the Fair Trading Act. The item matters because the regulator used the result to argue publicly for a shift to a civil penalty regime with fines of up to NZ$5 million per breach, and because grocery sector pricing remains an active enforcement priority.
- Pak'nSave Silverdale was fined NZ$234,000 on ten charges and Pak'nSave Mill Street NZ$346,500 on eight charges after guilty pleas in the Auckland District Court.
- The Commission is awaiting the full written judgment, which it will publish on its case register.
- Deputy Chair Anne Callinan linked the result to the Government's Fair Trading Act review, which proposes a civil regime with fines of up to NZ$5 million per breach versus the current NZ$600,000 maximum.
- The Commission's case against Woolworths NZ for similar conduct is ongoing, with Woolworths having pleaded not guilty.
- The Commission also has current proceedings alleging cartel conduct against Foodstuffs North Island and Gilmours, and civil proceedings announced in August against Foodstuffs South Island over discounting restrictions.