The Federal Trade Commission and 20 states, including Florida, sued Dollar General on Monday, alleging the discount chain routinely charged customers more at the register than the prices shown on shelves, price tags, and advertisements.

The complaint, filed in federal court in the Middle District of Tennessee, claims the overcharges cost consumers millions of dollars. Enforcers say the pricing discrepancies ran from 2019 through March 2026 and drew almost 30,000 consumer complaints to the company, which they say shows “pervasive and systemic pricing inaccuracies.”

The lawsuit also alleges Dollar General knew about the problem and failed to fix it. Between 2019 and 2026, the complaint says, the company entered seven settlements in six states over inaccurate pricing, paying a combined $6 million in penalties.

Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the retailer “betrayed the trust” of millions of consumers already struggling to stretch their paychecks.

Joining Florida and the FTC are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Dollar General operates more than 21,000 stores nationwide. Its shares fell about 4% after the FTC announced the suit.

The claims are allegations, not findings, and the case will now move through the courts. Honest pricing at the checkout is a basic expectation in any market, and the case will test whether years of state-level settlements were enough or whether, as enforcers contend, the problem persisted regardless.

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