US discount chain Dollar General is sued by 'the FTC' and 20 states, accused of overcharging shoppers despite 29,265 complaints

The FTC's 95-page complaint, filed in federal court in Nashville, accuses Dollar General of extracting millions in unlawful overcharges from low-income shoppers who depend on advertised shelf prices to manage tight household budgets. Between January 2023 and March 2026, the chain logged more than 29,265 complaints about pricing discrepancies yet carried on the practice across all 48 states where it operates.

Dollar General had already settled with seven states, paying upward of $6 million in penalties for inaccurate pricing in agreements reached between 2019 and 2026.

The FTC says the lawsuit was partly triggered by a Guardian investigation from last December, which found that Dollar General had been cited in more than 4,300 failed government price-accuracy inspections over three years across 23 states.

Dollar General insists its 'goal is 100% accuracy between shelf and register prices in every store' and denies willfully disregarding customers' affordability needs.