In our most recent "Junk Fee" Legislative Roundup, we noted that the Connecticut legislature had introduced a bill that could require companies to include mandatory fees in their prices. On June 10, 2025, Connecticut's Governor signed that bill into law. Subject to certain exceptions, the law will make it unlawful for any company to:
- Advertise a good or service at a price that excludes any fee or charge that a person is required to pay in order to purchase, lease, or otherwise receive the good or service; or
- Require any person to pay any fee or charge to purchase, lease, or otherwise receive a good or service if the fee or charge is omitted, or if it is intentionally obscured, unclear, or misrepresented.
Like similar statutes, the Connecticut law will allow companies to omit taxes and other government fees from the initial price display, as long as those are disclosed prior to purchase.
The law will also allow companies to omit a fee or charge from the initially advertised price and later impose it, if the fee or charge is dependent on a person's selections or can't feasibly be calculated when the price is first displayed. The existence of that fee or charge must be disclosed during the initial price display and the actual amount must be disclosed prior to purchase.
(Notably, unlike other laws, the Connecticut law arguably does not allow companies to exclude fixed shipping costs from their prices. It seems that companies can only exclude them if they can't be calculated during the initial price display.)
The law will also allow companies to omit a mandatory gratuity from the initially advertised price and later impose that, as long as the existence of the gratuity and the way it is calculated is clearly disclosed before a person selects the good or service.
The law will become effective on July 1, 2026, and will join the growing patchwork of laws that govern how prices and fees are displayed. Although the laws all have their nuances, they generally require companies to include most mandatory fees every time they display a price. If you haven't recently looked at how you advertise prices, now may be a good time to do that.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
