A year has passed since the amended competition and consumer protection Act put in place a host of new competition enforcement tools and measures to protect consumers in Poland.

The amendment was intended to close legal loopholes and bolster UOKiK’s administrative effectiveness, efficiency and transparency. The changes improved concentration control procedures, introduced new instruments for detecting and combating competition restricting practices, and put tools in place for warning consumers about practices that could expose them to significant losses.

Faster concentration control

The Act introduced a two-stage analysis of merger and acquisition control, with simple cases resolved within a month, while more complex ones would receive an additional four months. This approach significantly shortened the time required to issue a decision to an average of 34 days in 2015, 22 days fewer than the 56 the Office took in 2014. Of the 212 concentration decisions the Office issued, only one was for conditional clearance, and there were no decisions forbidding a merger.

Another new tool UOKiK gained was the competition concern. In cases where a merger may substantially limit competition, the enterprises can, while the proceeding is ongoing, be informed of the ruling the Office anticipates making, including the finding of a competition concern.

Protecting competition

The amendments to the Act ushered in a number of important changes aimed at protecting competition. One was extending the limitation period for identifying and investigating competition restricting practices from one to five years. Another was separating control procedures from those governing searches. UOKiK also gained the ability to impose financial penalties on individuals — as opposed to only enterprises — responsible for participating in a competition restricting agreement. The amendment also introduced a procedure for voluntarily accepting punishment, or settlements as they are known in competition parlance. The Office may also impose remedies designed to demonstrate how the terms of a UOKiK decision are to be carried out. UOKiK has published documents explaining the new rules governing financial penalties for competition restricting practices and voluntarily accepting punishment. Finally, the amendment to the Act also expanded the Authority’s leniency programme.

Since January 18, 2015 UOKiK has instituted 32 antimonopoly proceedings and 179 preliminary proceedings to determine whether competition-limiting practices have occurred.

Consumer warnings

Along with the changes to antimonopoly provisions, the Act also introduced consumer warnings, a tool intended to directly protect weaker market players. The warnings are used when the Authority has justified suspicion that an enterprise is engaging in illegal practices that could expose consumers to financial loss or other adverse consequences. UOKiK issued its first warning in December 2015.       

The detailed justification of charges and the evaluation committee

Beyond changes to the law, UOKiK also improved its internal procedures by introducing the detailed justification of charges for use in competition-limiting practices and infringement of collective consumer interest cases. The internal evaluation committee rounds out the Office’s procedural improvements.

On 17 April 2016 another amendment to the competition and consumers protection Act will come into force, designed particularly to strengthen the protection of weaker market participants.

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
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