The Director of Consumer Affairs, Carmel Foley, is planning to prosecute two Galway hotels for overcharging in their licensed premises.
Inspectors conducted checks on 20 licensed premises in the city this week to check they were complying with legislation that requires them to display their prices.
They found in one premises that consumers were being charged 30c more at the till for a pint of Budweiser, while the second pub charged up to 20c more on its range of whiskeys than was displayed on its price list.
"Consumers have a right to know the exact price that they will be charged and it is an offence for publicans to charge more than the price displayed on the prescribed lists," said Ms Foley.
Earlier this month, leading publicans in Galway city introduced a price freeze on drinks for the rest of 2005 in a bid to lure more visitors. Dubbed "The Galway Price Promise" initiative, the plan involved some 20 pubs and was supported by Ireland West Tourism.