NEW YORK - Walmart must face a lawsuit claiming it often charges higher prices at the register than it posts on store shelves, costing consumers hundreds of millions of dollars a year, a federal appeals court ruled on July 3.

Reversing a lower court judge, the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said consumers could try to prove in their proposed class action that the conduct of the world's largest retailer was a fraudulent "bait-and-switch" that violated several states' consumer protection laws.

It also rejected Walmart's argument that providing receipts after purchases negated any unfairness caused by inaccurate shelf prices.

Circuit Judge David Hamilton wrote for a three-judge panel that it was "neither unreasonable nor fanciful" for consumers to believe Walmart would charge the prices displayed on shelves.

Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The named plaintiff, Yoram Kahn, is from the Cleveland area.

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