The obligation to publish prices to the consumers applies also on mother company that may be subject to a financial sanction if a subsidiary did not publish

The Commissioner for Consumer Protection and Fair Trade imposed a financial sanction on ‘Rami Levy Hashikma Marketing’ food chain because the ‘Cofix’ chain, controlled by ‘Rami Levy’, did not publish to the public the prices of goods sold in its stores.

The Court held that the sanction was duly imposed. Israeli law requires a retailer owning at least three stores or an online store, which turnover in the previous fiscal year exceeded ILS 249 million - to publish on ongoing basis the list of chain stores, list of goods sold in each store and their prices. This obligation applies to stores maintained by a corporation controlled by a large retailer, so that large retailers will not hide behind the corporate veil and evade this obligation. Breaching the law grants the Commissioner the authority to impose financial sanctions. Here, 'Rami Levy' is a large retailer which acquired control of the ‘Cofix’ chain, which has not fulfilled its obligation regarding publishing its prices to the consumers. Therefore, the sanction was duly imposed.