UOKiK has concluded proceedings it began in August 2014 to determine if the significant increase in prices of textbook sets could have infringed competition law.

An analysis conducted by Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has shown that although textbooks prices rose between 2010 and 2014 by an average of roughly 40 percent per year, publishing house measures were not the result of collusion but the particular organisation of the textbook market.

The Authority’s investigation confirmed significant dysfunction in the textbook market due to the fact that price has little influence on choice. The compulsory educational curriculum forces parents and guardians to purchase textbooks while having negligible say in which ones are chosen — the choice is made by teachers and schools, for whom price is less important. While this compels publishers to compete in terms of quality, there remains ample room to raise prices considerably.

Because prices have indeed grown, the Authority reasons that taking measures to encourage teachers to rationalise their choice of textboooks would be justified. School directors and school boards, where parents do have a voice, could play a key role here. Given the important social dimension of the textbook market, UOKIK will both continue to keep an eye out for potential infringements of competition law and support the Ministry of National Education in promoting best practices in school purchases based on the principle of „the highest quality at a reasonable price”.

Additional information for the media:

Press Office, UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Phone.: +48 22 827 28 92, +48 22 55 60 314, +48 22 55 60 430
E-mail: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]