Consumers need more protection against hidden charges often tucked away in the small print, according to two bodies responsible for promoting law reform.

BBC: calculator and pen

The commissions say that the rise of price-comparison websites have put pressure on traders to advertise low headline prices, while playing down other hidden charges.

BBC: calculator and pen

The one finding which repeated behavioural studies confirm is that individuals respond much more strongly to costs that confront them direct than to hidden charges.

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Wal-Mart may be able to pump up its sales numbers by offering costly discounts, or worse, finding ways to nickel and dime customers with hidden charges.

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This process is called dynamic currency conversion (DCC), and in summer 2011 research by Caxton FX found that 37% of Britons were still being bitten by hidden DCC charges.

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Experian denies that the charges were hidden and denies that there was any attempt to deceive consumers.

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The commissions recommend that courts should not interfere with prices which are "transparent and prominent" - but when charges are hidden in small print, they should be given the power to assess them for fairness.

BBC: calculator and pen

Although cleared by one court - held under sharia or Islamic law - in the nearby emirate of Ras-al-Khaimah, she has been tried for a second time, under civil law, on charges of possessing 50g cocaine found hidden in the roof space of her flat.

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Trie faces an April trial in Little Rock on charges he interfered with a Senate investigation by ordering subpoenaed documents to be hidden.

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