Caveat Venditor: State Lawmakers Add Seven New CUTPA Violations

The following article first appeared in the Publications section of Wiggin and Dana’s website. It is reposted here with permission.

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At the close of the 2025 Connecticut General Assembly’s legislative session, lawmakers created seven new per se violations of the Unfair Trade Practices Act and granted exclusive authority to the Attorney General to enforce existing CUTPA per se violation under the precipitating emergency statute.

One new per se violation became effective July 1, 2025. Two others will go into effect Oct. 1, 2025, and the remaining four will go into effect July 1, 2026.

A summary of each new public act is provided below, although each summary may not address the entire scope of its corresponding statute or public act.

Healthcare, Cannabis, Promotional Activities

Section 4(b) of Public Act No. 25-97 created a per se violation for health systems or healthcare providers that require a patient to provide bank account information, a credit or debit card number, or any other form of electronic payment to be kept on file as a prerequisite to seeing the patient for an office visit or providing any healthcare service to the patient. This is now in effect as of July 1, 2025.

Section 9(d) of Public Act No. 25-101 creates a per se violation for cannabis establishments that fail to display standardized signage developed by the Department of Consumer Protection which enables consumers to scan a quick response code or comparable electronic identifier to determine whether that establishment holds an active cannabis license issued by the department.

It also creates a per se violation of CUTPA for non-cannabis establishments that display such signage or any substantially similar signs that incorrectly indicate that they hold an active license. This will go into effect Oct. 1, 2025.

PA 25-101 also establishes several additional requirements for the department, manufacturers, pharmacies, operators, and other key parties handling hemp, cannabis, marijuana, and infused beverages.

Public Act No. 25-112. Section 14(a), which goes into effect Oct. 1, 2025, amends Conn. Gen. Stat. 42-301. Section 14(f) creates a per se CUTPA violation for persons conducting or promoting a sweepstakes or a promotional drawing that: (a) is not related to the bona fide sale of goods, services or property; (b) uses a simulated gambling device; or (c) allows or facilitates participation in any real or simulated online casino gaming or sports wagering unless such person is licensed to do so under chapter 229b.

Consumer Goods, Services

Public Act No. 25-44 includes four new distinct per se violations of CUTPA that will each take effect July 1, 2026. The act covers various requirements concerning fee disclosures for consumer goods and services, the use of connected devices, the repairs of electronic or appliance products, the establishment of internet domains for municipalities, the downsizing of food suppliers, the authority of the Attorney General to declare and respond to abnormal economic disruptions and precipitating events, and the procedures applicable to people who violate such provisions.

Section 1(c) creates a per se violation for businesses that offer to sell, lease or otherwise provide any good or service to advertise, display or offer goods or services at a price that excludes any fee, charge or cost (“fees”) that the consumer is required to pay.

Conversely, it is a per se violation for the business to require consumers to pay any fees to purchase, lease or otherwise receive goods or services if the business did not advertise, display, or offer, or if the business intentionally obscured, did not make clear, or misrepresented the required fees.

Section 2(g) creates a per se violation for providers of connected devices that allow any person to activate any connected device without (1) prominently displaying to the initial consumer a disclaimer that communicates the ability of the device to transmit recordable audio and video back to the manufacturer or third party and a statement disclosing the camera and microphone features of the connected device that can record when enabled by specific commands and the initial consumer’s option to decline to activate these features, unless it is a condition of unemployment or renders the connected device useless, and without (2) providing the initial consumer the option to decline to activate the camera and microphone. It is also a per se violation when a provider fails to implement and maintain reasonable security measures to protect any personally identifying information that the camera and microphone can collect. Additionally, no provider can use or sell any recording collected by the camera or microphone of the connected devices for purposes of targeted advertising unless the initial consumer opted to do so.

Product Manufacturers

Section 3(f) creates a per se violation for manufacturers of electronic or appliance products that fail to follow the provisions set forth under subsections (b) to (e).

Manufacturers must make available to the owners of such products, service and repair facilities and service dealers documentation and functional parts and tools, inclusive of any updates thereto that are sufficient to affect the diagnosis, maintenance or repair of such product, for at least three years for products with wholesale prices to retailers or other types of sale of at least $50 but less than $100, and at least five years for products of at least $100. These time periods apply regardless of whether such time periods exceed the term of any warranty period of the electronic or appliance product.

The section sets out the criteria to meet the documentation and availability of functional parts and tools requirements for both manufacturers and their authorized repair providers. The section also requires unauthorized service dealers or service and repair facilities to inform customer that they are not authorized repair providers and to disclose use of any used any used replacement parts or replacement parts provided by a supplier other than the manufacturer.

The Attorney General has sole authority to enforce violations within the section, which explicitly bars CUTPA’s private remedy provision.

The provisions of the section do not apply to any design or manufacturing flaw that existed prior to independent of any diagnosis, maintenance, modification or repair. The provisions also do not require manufacturers to disclose trade secret or license any intellectual property, unless required, to make available any documentation or tools used exclusively to perform free remote diagnostic services, and to distribute source code for an electronic appliance or product.

Finally, the provisions do not apply to manufacturers who provide no charge for replacement products that are readily available and equivalent or better to the old product and to dealers, distributors, importers or manufacturers of any equipment for off-road or non-road use.

Section 3(f) importantly grants sole authority to the Attorney General to enforce the identified per se violations within the section and explicitly bars the availability of the private remedy provision of CUTPA, section 42-110g.

Consumer Agreements

Section 7(f) creates a per se violation for businesses that enter, or offer to enter into, consumer agreements that include automatic renewal or continuous services provisions and fail to follow the provisions set forth in the section.

Section 7 requires businesses to establish and maintain an electronic mail address, postal address or telephone number or online means for the consumer to prevent automatic renewal or terminate consumer services; provide notice to consumers electronically, verbally, telephonically or in writing in a manner set forth in the provisions before any automatic renewals or continuation of services; provide consumers the ability to prevent such automatic renewal or terminate continuous services online and offline; provide disclosures of any recurring charges, small and material changes to the agreement, additional provisions concerning such renewal term, and any other details like minimum purchase obligations and contact information for business; provide consumers a description of the actions they are required to take to prevent automatic renewal or cancel services; provide the same disclosures and notices with regard to consumer agreements that include a free gift or trial period; provide notice of the upcoming end of trial periods 21 days into the period, and no earlier than three days before such period expires for a trial period that is at least 32 days in length, and at least 15 days, but not more than 45 days for a trial period that is at least one year in length; among other provisions.

Businesses cannot charge consumers for automatic renewals and continuous services without obtaining affirmative consent.

The section prohibits businesses from charging consumers in such consumer agreements with automatic renewals and continuous services without obtaining a consumer’s affirmative consent.

The provisions of the section do not preclude consumers who are unwilling or unable to enter their account information or otherwise authenticate their identity online from taking action to prevent automatic renewal offline or by other methods set forth in the section.

Lastly, Section 5 amends Conn. Gen. Stat. 42-230, the statute which prohibits companies from charging unconscionably excessive prices during precipitating events as declared by the Governor.

Section 5(c) grants the Attorney General exclusive authority to enforce the provisions of Section 5 on behalf of the state, as well as the authority to take other enforcement action as deemed necessary, pursuant to relevant provisions of CUTPA.

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About the author: Robert Langer is senior counsel in Wiggin and Dana’s Litigation Department and co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust and Technology Disputes Practice Group.