Glossary A–ZLetter P
Price Indication Ordinance
The Price Indication Ordinance (PAngV) governs how businesses in Germany must state prices to consumers when they offer goods or services or advertise them with prices.
Its core is the total price including VAT. For many goods sold by weight or volume, the unit price, for example per kilogram or litre, must be given as well.
This applies on screen just as it does on paper. A menu board in a restaurant, an offer display in a bakery or a price in a shop window must show the total price clearly and legibly. If a price reduction for goods is announced, the lowest price the shop charged in the previous 30 days must also be stated.
Screens bring their own sources of error: a price that is visible for only a few seconds is not always easy to take in, and an offer that keeps running after it has ended shows a wrong price. Operators should therefore set up offers with an end date and, where possible, take prices from the same source as the till. Some sectors have special rules; if in doubt, a legal check helps.