Price gouging law takes effect with disaster declaration

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Retailers who over-inflate the price of gasoline and other products may now be prosecuted under a state law prohibiting price gouging. <br/><br/>The state's Emergency Price Stabilization

Thursday, September 8th 2005, 10:37 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Retailers who over-inflate the price of gasoline and other products may now be prosecuted under a state law prohibiting price gouging.

The state's Emergency Price Stabilization Act went into effect with President Bush's recent disaster declaration for Oklahoma.

Attorney General Drew Edmondson says his investigators are continuing to monitor prices in the field, and that he's notified district attorneys across the state to investigate and prosecute under the statute.

Under the law, prices can't increase more than 10 percent above the price charged before the declaration, unless it can be attributed to factors outside the emergency and doesn't involve profit increases for the seller.

Edmondson says the statute applies not just to gas, but to any goods, services, dwelling units or storage space.