• Following the intervention of the President of UOKiK, banks lowered fees for mortgage loan repayment certificates.
• In the most extreme case, the fee for the 20-year period was reduced from PLN 3 thousand to PLN 50.
• Certificates are necessary for those who seek to enforce their rights in court.

President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny has intervened in connection with the high fees for loan repayment record certificates applied for in banks by consumers fighting for annulment of the agreement in court. - The high fees may have discouraged borrowers from taking legal action and became a serious financial barrier for them. Moreover, without such a certificate, the consumer would not be able to determine the amount of the partially repaid credit and the interest they would claim from the bank. After an intervention in the interest of the borrowers the fees were significantly reduced – says Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.

The President of the Office:

• has issued one decision imposing a fine of PLN 5 million on Deutsche Bank, of which we informed in a communication – the decision is not final,
• has completed 4 investigative procedures concerning: BNP Paribas Bank Polska, Credit Agricole Bank Polska, PKO BP, Raiffeisen Bank International AG.
• has completed soft actions against Bank Millennium, Getin Noble Bank and mBank.

As a result of the actions of the President of UOKiK, most banks have reduced the fees for certificates and do not condition their amount on the duration of the repayment period. For example: one of the banks, prior to the intervention of the President of UOKiK, charged a fee of PLN 3 thousand for preparing a statement concerning a 20-year repayment period. After the intervention - it was eventually reduced to 50 PLN regardless of the duration of the period for which the consumer applied. In another bank the fee was reduced from 300 PLN to PLN 50.

As a result of the intervention, the fees for one copy of the certificate currently range from PLN 50 to PLN 200 depending on the bank.

The President of the Office did not question the fees charged by Bank Millennium and mBank, and BNP Paribas already prior to the instigation of the investigation decided to abandon the fee calculation mechanism, which conditioned their amount on the duration of the requested period.

Moreover, President of the Office Tomasz Chróstny issued a notice to 7 banks and the Association of Polish Banks, in which he presented his position concerning, inter alia, fees for issuing certificates. In the said notice, the banks have been informed that it would be reasonable for them to set a limit on the fees that may be charged to the consumer when they submit an application for one contract and the information requested is presented in several different documents, for which the bank charges separate fees.

Consumer support:

Phone: +48 801 440 220 or +48 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
Email: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Consumer advocates – in your town or district

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL