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10/09/2025·2 min read
Commerce Commission flexes muscles over CityFitness’ alleged misleading fees
The Commerce Commission has filed charges under the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) against New Zealand’s largest gym chain, CityFitness Group Ltd (CityFitness).
The Commission alleges that CityFitness misled consumers by:
- Advertising gym membership prices that could not be obtained because a compulsory 3% fee was added on top; and
- Labelling that 3% fee as a “transaction fee”, despite it not being related to the cost of processing payments.
The charges relate to conduct between 21 December 2023 and 30 April 2025. In that period, CityFitness allegedly advertised weekly memberships from as little as $6.99, without disclosing to consumers that an additional 3% fee was required.
Why the Commission is concerned
The Commission says that failing to include unavoidable charges in advertised prices undermines consumers’ right to transparent pricing. It also alleges that CityFitness positioned itself as one of the cheapest gym options, when in reality the compulsory fee meant that was not always the case.
The Commission has filed 16 charges against CityFitness under sections 11, 13(g), and 40(1) of the FTA. The Commission alleges that CityFitness made false or misleading representations, or engaged in conduct liable to mislead the public on its website, Instagram, and Google advertising. The maximum penalty against companies for these breaches under the FTA is $600,000 per offence (noting there could be more than one offence here if the charges are established).
The bigger picture – drip pricing in focus
These charges come just a week after the Commission announced its 2025/26 enforcement and compliance priorities. One of the new priority areas is “online sales conduct”, which specifically calls out drip pricing (the practice of advertising a low headline price and then adding compulsory fees later in the purchasing process).
We noted in our recent article that the Commission is actively targeting businesses whose pricing practices risk misleading consumers (read that article here). The CityFitness proceedings are another clear signal that pricing accuracy and transparency are front and centre of the Commission’s current enforcement strategy.
With the proceedings against CityFitness now before the courts, we will provide further updates as the case proceeds. In the meantime, businesses should take this case as a timely reminder to review pricing structures and advertising practices, particularly where additional charges, surcharges, or “from” pricing is used.
Get in touch
Please let any of our experts below know if you have any questions about the Commission’s priorities, the CityFitness proceedings, or if you are concerned that your business may be at risk of breaching the FTA. We will continue to keep you updated on developments in the competition space.
Special thanks to Holly Soar and Achi Simhony for their assistance in preparing this article.
