• No information on the risks and suggestion that the company offers bonds, while in fact it has encouraged consumers to lend to it.
• In total, the President of UOKiK imposed penalties of more than PLN 170,000 for violation of collective consumer interests on the Obligacje Społeczne company and on the managing person.
• The website containing the entrepreneur’s offer has been blocked.

The President of UOKiK issued a decision to the entrepreneur Obligacje Społeczne Prosta Spółka Akcyjna from Warsaw. He imposed financial penalties both on the firm itself and on the manager (President) who deliberately violated the collective interests of consumers. Prior to that, the President of the Office issued a consumer warning and a provisional decision requiring the entrepreneur to refrain from unfair practices.

- The practices applied by the Obligacje Społeczne company were very harmful. As a result, consumers seeking the possibility to safely invest their savings could have suffered financial losses. On its website, the company suggested that its offer included bonds, which was not true. Additionally, it failed to mention the risk associated with the investment, which in fact consists in the consumer granting an interest-bearing loan to the company - says Tomasz Chróstny, President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Contested Practices

1. Misleading consumers by informing that the company offers bonds or social bonds. This impression was caused, inter alia, by the use of terms such as bonds, social bonds, bonus bonds, issuance, issuer, series. Meanwhile, in fact, Obligacje Społeczne offered investments consisting in consumers providing them with interest-bearing loans – PLN 10,000 or PLN 100,000 each. However, this was only possible at the stage of signing the agreement.
2. No information on investment risk was provided. When presenting the offer, Obligacje Społeczne highlighted only the benefits, e.g. ensuring that: “In addition to guaranteed profit, each transaction is secured”. However, at the time of signing the agreement, the loan granted by the consumer shall not be secured in any way. Ultimately, the collateral is to be 1/3 of the share of a car belonging to a separate company Prius 29. However, the consumer is not legally able to demand the conclusion of a pledge agreement and the company itself cannot be considered as a solvency guarantee provider.

Penalties Imposed on the Company and its President

Both the Obligacje Społeczne company and its President, as the sole Management Board Member, shall have penalties imposed on them. In total, the penalties amount to PLN 170,000. In accordance with the operative part of the decision, “the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection imposes:

• Financial penalties of (...) on Obligacje Społeczne Prosta Spółka Akcyjna with its registered office in Warsaw” in total, PLN 91,800
• “(...) on Klaudiusz Dębowski – Member of the Management Board acting as the President of the Management Board of Obligacje Społeczne Prosta Spółka Akcyjna with its registered office in Warsaw, in connection with the intentional infringement by the entrepreneur Obligacje Społeczne Prosta Spółka Akcyjna with its registered office in Warsaw of the prohibition set out in Article 24 (1) and (2) (3) of the aforementioned Act (...)” in total, PLN 80,000.

- The President of Obligacje Społeczne played a key role in the preparation and implementation of the marketing strategy of the company. In order to acquire as many clients as possible, he intentionally misled them both as regards the substance of the company’s offer and the associated investment risk. Therefore, I have decided to impose the financial penalty for this on him personally - says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

Other UOKiK Actions

The entrepreneur did not decide to voluntarily abandon the practice despite a provisional decision. Therefore, the Office has taken action which led to closing the website where the misleading content was presented.

The proceedings of the President of UOKiK against KFG SA in Warsaw and its President are still pending. On its website, the company offers “social bonds”. The accusations also include misleading consumers.

Consumer Support:

Phone: 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
E-mail: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Consumer Ombudsmen – in your town or district
Financial Ombudsman - when a complaint has been rejected by a financial institution