Montana Code 16-10-203. Sales to meet competition permitted
16-10-203. Sales to meet competition permitted. (1) (a) A retailer may advertise, offer to sell, or sell cigarettes at a price made in good faith to meet the price of a competitor who is selling the same article at cost to the competitor as a retailer as prescribed in this chapter.
Terms Used In Montana Code 16-10-203
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- Cigarettes: means any roll for smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco, irrespective of size or shape and whether or not the tobacco is flavored, adulterated, or mixed with any other ingredient, the wrapper or cover of which is made of nontobacco paper or any other substance or material except tobacco. See Montana Code 16-10-103
- Retailer: means a person who operates a store, stand, booth, concession, or other outlet for the purpose of selling cigarettes at retail. See Montana Code 16-10-103
- sell: means any transfer of cigarettes for consideration, exchange, barter, gift, offer for sale, or distribution, in any manner or by any means. See Montana Code 16-10-103
- Wholesaler: means a person who services retail outlets by maintaining an established place of business for the purchase of cigarettes and who:
(a)purchases cigarettes from a manufacturer for the purpose of selling cigarettes to retailers; or
(b)purchases cigarettes from a sole distributor, another wholesaler, or any other person for the purpose of selling cigarettes to retailers. See Montana Code 16-10-103
(b)Any wholesaler may advertise, offer to sell, or sell cigarettes at a price made in good faith to meet the price of a competitor who is rendering the same type of service and is selling the same article at cost to the competitor as a wholesaler as prescribed in this chapter.
(c)The price of cigarettes advertised, offered for sale, or sold under the exceptions specified in 16-10-304 may not be considered the price of a competitor and may not be used as a basis for establishing prices below cost, and the price established at a bankruptcy sale may not be considered the price of a competitor within the purview of this section.
(2)In the absence of proof of the “price of a competitor” under this section, the “lowest cost to the retailer” or the “lowest cost to the wholesaler”, determined by any “cost survey” made pursuant to 16-10-303, may be considered to be the “price of a competitor” within the meaning of this section.