16-10-203. Sales to meet competition permitted. (1) (a) A retailer may advertise, offer to sell, or sell cigarettes at a price made in good faith to meet the price of a competitor who is selling the same article at cost to the competitor as a retailer as prescribed in this chapter.

(b) Any wholesaler may advertise, offer to sell, or sell cigarettes at a price made in good faith to meet the price of a competitor who is rendering the same type of service and is selling the same article at cost to the competitor as a wholesaler as prescribed in this chapter.

(c) The price of cigarettes advertised, offered for sale, or sold under the exceptions specified in 16-10-304 may not be considered the price of a competitor and may not be used as a basis for establishing prices below cost, and the price established at a bankruptcy sale may not be considered the price of a competitor within the purview of this section.

(2) In the absence of proof of the "price of a competitor" under this section, the "lowest cost to the retailer" or the "lowest cost to the wholesaler", determined by any "cost survey" made pursuant to 16-10-303, may be considered to be the "price of a competitor" within the meaning of this section.