• The President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, is bringing the first charges against 4 entrepreneurs for misrepresentation of promotions.
• Zalando, Media Markt, Sephora, Glovo – they face penalties of up to 10 per cent of turnover for violating consumer rights.
• From 1 January this year, retailers announcing a discount must quote the lowest price from 30 days prior to the discount.

Legislation has been in place for six months now, requiring businesses organizing price discounts to report the lowest price of the 30 days preceding the promotion. With these changes, consumers have a clear benchmark for the number of discounts and entrepreneurs cannot use so-called price juggling to make their offers unfairly attractive during sales or promotions.

The lowest price of the 30 days before the discount is now one of the most important pieces of information for consumers. It is the basis to which the current promotion must relate. The obligation to quote it is intended to make it easier for buyers to make purchasing decisions and verify the actual price advantage.

Since the introduction of the new regulations, UOKiK has been monitoring both the traditional and e-commerce markets. It checks whether entrepreneurs have adapted to the new regulations and comply with the new consumer rights. More than 60 soft notices have been issued regarding the rules for presenting discounts, and 12 investigations of stationary shops are underway. The President of UOKiK has also issued clarifications to entrepreneurs. A significant number of entrepreneurs have changed their unfair practices after the notices of the President of UOKiK and the explanations provided. However, some still try to present their promotions as more attractive than they actually are.

- Together with the Trade Inspectorate, we are monitoring the rules on the implementation of the new regulations. We are investigating stationary shops, online portals and platforms. I clearly announced that after the checking and clarification stage, if there were still irregularities, they would be met with a response from the authority. We noticed the most errors in terms of making prices visible, including the lowest price of the last 30 days before the discount. After six months of the new rules, we are moving forward with charges against the first four entrepreneurs, but not excluding further ones. We want to prevent further violations of consumer rights, as eliminating 'price juggling' and providing buyers with a reliable reference point in the form of the lowest price from the last 30 days before the discount was the main objective of the legal changes introduced - says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

The obligation to fairly inform consumers of the price - including, in the case of promotions, the lowest price of 30 days - extends to every location and all stages of the sale. Entrepreneurs: Zalando, Media Markt, Sephora and Glovo, by communicating promotions, may have misled consumers and violated their collective interests. Allegations include failing to display the lowest price in force 30 days prior to the discount or communicating it in an unclear manner, failing to include a reference to this price in the current promotion, using filters and presenting offers that do not refer to it and inconsistent use of other reference points.

Price discounts are a frequently used marketing tool by which traders encourage consumers to shop specifically at their shop or service. It is unacceptable for consumers to receive a message about a large percentage or amount discount when, in practice, the promotion does not benefit them compared to the lowest price 30 days before it was introduced. The disputed practice relates to situations where buyers are tempted by large discounts and the lowest price of a product or service from 30 days before the promotion is introduced does not show a discount and sometimes even indicates a price increase. Such actions by entrepreneurs can mislead consumers. For example, an e-commerce user could see a promotional offer for a women’s sweatshirt available for PLN 178 at a supposedly bargain price, 15 per cent lower than the “original price”. Meanwhile, when comparing this discount to the lowest price from 30 days before it was introduced, it turned out that the price is currently 55 per cent higher.

Also, illegible information about the lowest price from 30 days before the discount - the use of small font, poorly visible colour in comparison with clear messages about the current price or the size of the discount - may infringe the collective interests of consumers. If an entrepreneur provides filters to search for promotions, their operation must be fair. Tools for finding discounts (e.g. up to 50 per cent) should refer to the lowest price from 30 days before the discount, so that they serve consumers realistically. If the basis for filtering promotions is based on other reference points, consumers may find it difficult to judge which products presented to them are actually value for money.

If collective consumer interests are found to have been violated, the President of UOKiK may order for the prohibited practice to be changed and impose a penalty of up to 10 per cent of annual turnover.

These are the first allegations made by the President of UOKiK about how the market has adapted to the new requirements to provide information about price promotions. The Authority is also reviewing other obligations under the amended law. We are checking whether entrepreneurs provide contact details, in particular a telephone number, which should ensure that effective contact can be made, and whether consumers will find information on the platforms as to whether the offer comes from an entrepreneur or a private person, which determines, for example, the issue of withdrawal from a contract.

How to appropriately provide information on discounts?

The retailer should present the lowest price of the 30 days prior to the discount in a clear and unambiguous way for the consumer, whether it is a percentage or amount discount. The information about the lowest price from 30 days before the discount should appear wherever the entrepreneur informs about discounts for a specific product, i.e., for example, in an advertisement, next to the product on a shelf, on a display, in the chain’s newsletter, in a conditional sale, in a loyalty programme, in the search results of an online shop and on a specific product card. Furthermore, if the entrepreneur informs about the discount several times - at different stages of purchasing - each time this should be accompanied by the lowest price from 30 days before the promotion so that the consumer can compare it to the current discount at any time.

Are you an entrepreneur?

Use the free resources and mark down prices correctly. If you are looking for practical knowledge on how to do this - specially produced publications and a website will help:

“Information on price discounts - Explanations by the President of UOKiK” is a compendium on how to calculate and correctly present prices. In addition to examples of good and bad practice, you will find guidelines specially prepared by our lawyers explaining non-standard cases as well.

“Consumer revolution 2023 - a guide to changes in consumer law” is our latest publication, produced by the LexCultura Foundation. The guide is enriched with examples to help familiarise the reader with the regulations introduced. With its help, you will ensure transparency in contracts concluded online, explore the rules applicable in the booming digital market, find out how the protection of senior citizens has been strengthened and learn about the new rules on non-conformity of goods.

Prawakonsumenta.uokik.gov.pl - a comprehensive virtual guide to consumer rights. Amongst other things, you will find up-to-date complaints rules, ready-made complaints applications and advice on amicable resolution of disputes.

Publications can be downloaded free of charge from uokik.gov.pl, and one of them can even be ordered in printed form in our shop. We encourage you to get to know them, share them and make them available.

Consumer Support:

Phone: +48 801 440 220 or +48 222 66 76 76 – consumer helpline
E-mail: [SCODE]cG9yYWR5QGRsYWtvbnN1bWVudG93LnBs[ECODE]
Consumer Ombudsmen – in your town or district

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
pl. Powsta�ców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone: 22 55 60 246
Email: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL
You can also follow us on Instagram: @uokikgovpl