The anchor price from 1 October 2026: who must do what, by activity

LAW stated in the decision or the act · INTERPRETATION official or prevailing interpretation, not in the text of the law · UNRESOLVED no official answer as at 22 September 2026

In short

The term sidrena cijena (“anchor price”) does not appear in the decision — Decision 1212 speaks of an additional price. This guide uses both terms for the same thing.

Two questions that decide everything

1. Do you sell goods or services to consumers (individuals buying for themselves)?
Decision 1212 applies to “all traders carrying on a registered retail activity and service providers carrying on a registered service activity” (item III) LAW. The text contains no mention of B2B, and no exemption by size, turnover or legal form. That the measure is aimed at business with final consumers follows from the purpose of the act (consumer protection), from the definition of retail in the Zakon o trgovini (Croatian Trade Act), Article 9 — sale “to consumers for personal use or use in the household” — and from the guidance of the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts (HOK), which relays the position of the Ministry of Economy given at a webinar on 17 September 2026 INTERPRETATION. In written clarifications of 22 September 2026 the Ministry of Economy states that the obligors are all traders within the meaning of the Consumer Protection Act — sellers of goods and providers of services to consumers, whatever their legal form INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026. A written clarification therefore exists; formally it is not law, so pure B2B remains an interpretation, but an official one.

2. Do you have a website of your own?
The duty to publish a price list in .csv/.xml “applies to traders and service providers that have established websites” (Decision 1213, item V) LAW. No website — no such duty. A profile on a social network is not a website; the duty does apply to a site that serves purely informational or presentational purposes INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026.

Duty 1: the additional (anchor) price

What it is. The retail price “that does not include special forms of sale (promotions)” and that applied to that product or service “on 10 September 2026” (Decision 1212, item II(1)) LAW. In other words the regular price on that date — if the product was on promotion on 10 September, the additional price is the regular one, not the promotional one.

Where. At the point of sale or service, next to the retail price, “clearly, visibly and legibly” (item II(1)). In advertising — on leaflets, posters, digital advertising inside the outlet, outdoors and on websites — whenever the advertisement states a price (item II(2)) LAW. If the advertisement carries no price, it carries no additional price either.

How. The format, type size, order and wording are not prescribed — the decision does not regulate them LAW. The amount and the date are enough, for example:

If you have not changed the price, the two are identical and both are shown — the additional price is displayed even when it equals the current one INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026. It goes in the same place as the current price: the same price list, the same shelf label. A separate price list of additional prices is not allowed INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026.

What it is not. The additional price is not a price cap: the rules do not set a maximum price for the newly covered goods and services. You may change your prices after 1 October, up or down; the same additional price as at 10 September still stands next to them LAW — no capping provision. The additional price does not go on the invoice, the quotation or the proforma invoice, and does not enter the accounting records — the decision does not require it LAW; the answers given at the HOK webinar confirm the same INTERPRETATION.

What is exempt. The Ministry clarifications expressly exempt: accommodation prices shown through a provider's own booking systems and on intermediary platforms; goods and services of third parties on intermediary platforms — the platform displays an additional price only for its own fees charged directly to the consumer; customer apps, loyalty programmes and benefits available only to closed groups of consumers; television and radio advertising, which does not count as a digital form of advertising INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026.

Duty 2: a .csv or .xml price list on your website

Who. Only those who have an established website (Decision 1213, item V) LAW.

What it contains.

• Services (item IV): the name of the service; the retail price with a marker stating whether it is a special form of sale (promotion) and which one; the anchor price. LAW
• Products (item III): name; code; brand; unit of measure; price per unit of measure; retail price with a marker for a special form of sale (promotion); anchor price; barcode; availability. LAW

How and when.

• A file “suitable for automatic processing” in .xml or .csv (item II) — a PDF, a photo of the menu or a table inside the page text does not qualify. LAW
• Products: updated once a day, by 8:00 at the latest for the current working day. Services: on every change, by 8:00 at the latest on the day the change is published. (item II) LAW
• Published price lists are stored and remain available for 30 days from publication or from each change (item II). LAW
• The file name contains the form and address of the outlet, the outlet marker, the storage number and a timestamp (item VI). LAW
• Several locations: a separate file per outlet, even when the prices are identical; a web shop gets its own file. A price change during the day does not require a new file. The file name is built as form_address_outlet marker_storage number_date and time sent — the clarifications give the example prodavaonica_Ilica 150 Zagreb_P-01_104_01.10.2026_07:45. INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026
• The exact column layout, the separator and the XML schema are not prescribed — the decision does not regulate them LAW; HOK has published Excel templates for products and for services.

By activity: who must do what

What hurts most — short answers

The price was on promotion on 10 September. The additional price is the regular price on that date, not the promotional one (Decision 1212, item II — “does not include special forms of sale”). LAW

I introduced a new service or product after 10 September. You take the price of the first day the item entered the offer, stating that date. Changing the code or the name of an existing product, without changing its properties, composition or purpose, does not make it a new product — there the existing additional price still applies. INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026

May I raise prices after 1 October? Yes. The additional price is information, not a cap. LAW — no capping provision

Must I write the words “anchor price”? No. The rules do not prescribe the wording; the amount with the date is enough. LAW

Does the additional price go on the invoice or the quotation? No. The decisions require display and publication in the price list, not entry in the invoice, the quotation or the records. LAW HOK INTERPRETATION

I publish prices on Instagram. A social-network profile is not a website, so it does not trigger the .csv/.xml price-list duty INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026. On the advertisement itself the clarifications say nothing express UNRESOLVED — the safe practice stands: wherever you state a price, state the additional one as well.

I only have Facebook, no website. The .csv/.xml price list duty is tied to “established websites” LAW. A social-network profile does not count as a website, so you do not have that duty. If you do have a site that only presents the business, with no prices, the duty applies all the same. INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026

I work with businesses only. In its written clarifications the Ministry of Economy states that the obligors are sellers of goods and providers of services to consumers, so pure B2B is not covered. That is an official interpretation; the text of the decisions does not say so. INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026

I rent out accommodation. Prices of overnight stays shown through your own booking system and on intermediary platforms are exempt from the additional price. Other services you charge the guest — breakfast, parking, equipment hire — are not. INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026

I sell through Wolt or Booking.com. An intermediary platform does not display an additional price for someone else's goods and services, only for its own fees charged directly to the consumer. Your duty on your own channels is unaffected. INTERPRETATION — MINGO 22 Sept 2026

The web price list: when and for how long? Products daily by 8:00; services on every change, by 8:00 that day; every version available for 30 days. LAW

Penalties and supervision

Supervision is carried out by the market inspectors of the State Inspectorate (Act 40/25, Article 18). An inspector may order the irregularity to be remedied and may temporarily prohibit the sale of the covered goods and services until it is remedied; an appeal does not suspend enforcement (Article 19). LAW

Any pecuniary gain obtained through the offence is confiscated (Article 20(5)). A transition period, or an announcement of “lenient application” in the first weeks: not published UNRESOLVED. Under the earlier regime (food and others, from February 2025) the State Inspectorate carried out more than 5,000 inspections — the measure is supervised.

What is still unresolved and what we watch

Position as at 22 September 2026. We update this section when an official answer appears.

1. Services with no fixed price element at all. For a price set by specification or a dynamic price the clarifications say the individual elements of the calculation are anchored; what happens to a service that has no such elements is not stated.
2. An accommodation price list at reception, outside the booking system.
3. Overnight stays in the .csv/.xml file — they are exempt from display, but the clarifications do not say whether they belong in the price-list file.
4. The Ministry of Economy clarifications were published on 22 September 2026 — they are not law; that letter does not announce a rulebook.
5. The HOK request to repeal both decisions (17 September 2026) — the Government has published no reply.
6. The base price under the Zakon o zaštiti potrošača (Croatian Consumer Protection Act), NN 59/26, from 17 November 2026 — a separate, permanent instrument alongside the anchor price; the minister will prescribe the manner of display by rulebook.

Steps before 1 October 2026

1. Establish whether you sell anything to consumers. If not — watch only item 1 of the list above.
2. Keep evidence of your prices as at 10 September 2026: the price list, a till export, a photograph of the price list with the date. In an inspection, that is your source.
3. For every item, enter the additional price next to the current one — on the price list in the outlet, the menu, the labels, the web shop.
4. Go through every advertisement that states a price (leaflets, posters, the web, digital ads) and add the additional price.
5. If you have a website: build a .csv or .xml price list with the prescribed columns, publish it, and decide who updates it (products daily by 8:00; services on every change) and how you keep versions for 30 days.
6. For items with no price on 10 September, record the date they were introduced and the price on that date — until an official interpretation arrives.
7. Follow the announcements of the Ministry of Economy, the State Inspectorate and HOK; we will keep this guide updated.

The legal basis

• Odluka o isticanju dodatne cijene kao mjera izravne kontrole cijena (Decision on displaying the additional price as a direct price-control measure), NN 101/2026, decision 1212 — items I–VI — text in the Official Gazette
• Odluka o objavi cjenika proizvoda i usluga kao mjera izravne kontrole cijena (Decision on publishing price lists of products and services as a direct price-control measure), NN 101/2026, decision 1213 — items II–IX — text in the Official Gazette
• Zakon o iznimnim mjerama kontrole cijena (Exceptional Price Control Measures Act), NN 40/25 — Articles 2, 6, 8, 12, 15, 18, 19, 20 — text in the Official Gazette
• Zakon o trgovini (Croatian Trade Act), consolidated text — Article 9 — consolidated text
• Zakon o zaštiti potrošača (Croatian Consumer Protection Act), consolidated text, as amended by NN 59/26 — Articles 7, 19 (base price) — consolidated text
• Zakon o izmjenama i dopunama Zakona o zaštiti potrošača (Act amending the Consumer Protection Act), NN 59/26 — transitional provisions, Articles 64 and 66: the amended Article 7(1)–(9) (base price) enters into force on 17 November 2026, and the minister adopts the accompanying rulebook within 90 days — text in the Official Gazette
• Ministry of Economy, press release of 10 September 2026 — press release on the extension of the anchor price
• Ministry of Economy — “Displaying the additional price and publishing price lists of products and services: clarifications for application from 1 October 2026”, 22 September 2026 (not law, an official interpretation) — news item · PDF of the clarifications
• HOK, guidance for trades and crafts with price-list templates — guidance of the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts

Verified as at 22 September 2026. The rules change — if more than a year has passed since that date, check whether this guide has been updated. The Croatian version of this guide at /vodici/sidrena-cijena/ is the reference text.

Frequently asked questions

Verified primary legal sources

Open verified primary sources (4)

The links open the primary legal texts used in the mechanical verification of this guide.

• Odluka 1212 (Decision on displaying the additional price), NN 101/2026item II.–VI.
• Odluka 1213 (Decision on publishing price lists), NN 101/2026item II.–IX.
• Zakon o iznimnim mjerama kontrole cijena (Exceptional Price Control Measures Act), NN 40/25Aritem 2., 6., 12., 15., 18., 19., 20.
• Zakon o trgovini (Croatian Trade Act) (consolidated text)Aritem 9.