• The President of UOKiK has analysed the manner in which Euro Bank, Bank Handlowy and Bank Ochrony Środowiska notify their customers of the changes made to their fees and charges.
• Whenever a contract is amended, the contents of the changes made must be notified to the consumer using a durable medium and must be accompanied by information concerning the factual and legal grounds for the change.
• The compensation which consumers may be entitled to receive as a result may amount to as much as PLN 80 million.

The Office of the Competition and Consumer Protection is in the process of verifying the manner in which banks change the terms and conditions of their contracts with consumers. Most of such changes pertain to the increases made to the fees and commissions. The UOKiK is concerned by the fact that when making the relevant changes, the banks fail to notify their customers of the factual and legal grounds thereof. Another issue which may need to be addressed is that the proposed changes are only made available for users of the internal electronic banking systems, which, at the present stage, do not satisfy the definition of a “durable medium”.

The practices of 18 banks in total have given rise to concern. At the present stage, the proceedings conducted with respect to Euro Bank, Bank Handlowy and Bank Ochrony Środowiska have already been completed.

- So far, we have refrained from the imposition of financial penalties due to the fact that the banks involved have committed themselves to changing their current practices. The total value of potential compensation which may have to be paid to consumers may amount to about PLN 80 million. The banks are notifying their customers of the manner in which they may take advantage of the compensation scheme – says Marek Niechciał, President of the UOKiK. – The provisions of the payment services directive – including those pertaining to the definition of a durable medium – have been in force from 2007 onwards. This means that the financial sector had plenty of time to adjust its practices to the new regulatory environment. Our position in this regard has also been reaffirmed by the Court of Justice of the European Union – Mr Niechciał adds.

Durable medium

The UOKiK became concerned because the internal e-banking systems operated by Euro Bank and Bank Ochrony Środowiska which were used to provide customers with information on changes to the contractual terms and conditions cannot be said to satisfy the definition of a durable medium at the present stage.

In the view of the UOKiK, the internal e-banking systems remain under complete control of the banks, with the technology on which they are based failing to provide any guarantee for consumers that the undertakings in question do not modify the contents of the documents published there at a later date. Furthermore, financial institutions deny access to the information in question following the expiry or termination of the relevant contract and force the consumer to make an actual effort to check whether information on any changes has been released through the bank’s system.

As a result, these systems cannot be used as the sole means by which consumers are provided with information on the contemplated changes to the terms and conditions of their contracts. – Of course, we do not want the entire sector to go back to using ground mail services. E-banking is one of the most secure methods of providing customers with information on any changes made. However, such electronic platforms must satisfy the definition of a durable medium. This means that the information must be stored in an unaltered form for an appropriate period of time and that the bank may not remove or delete such information. This position is also supported by the Court of Justice of the European Union – says Marek Niechciał. Banks have discontinued the questionable practices and have commenced efforts intended to modify their systems so that they meet the definition of durable medium.

Lack of information on the factual and legal grounds

The President of the UOKiK has determined that Euro Bank, Bank Handlowy and Bank Ochrony Środowiska would notify their customers whenever an increase in the amount of fees was planned, but would not specify the legal grounds for the fee hikes or the circumstances which had an impact on the decision to introduce such hikes. In some cases, in the notifications provided to consumers, the bank would simply include a reference to
a general provision of the relevant contract. As a result, the consumer could have remained ignorant of the causes of the increased fees for cash withdrawals and would also be unable to verify whether such fees were introduced in an appropriate manner. – To give an example, whenever a price hike is caused by an increase in inflation, the bank should notify the customer of such fact. The customer must also be informed about how the given factor has changed, over what period did the change take place as well as to what extent could this change have had an impact on the modifications made to the applicable table of fees and commissions – Marek Niechciał adds.

Decisions of the UOKiK – public compensation

Euro Bank, Bank Handlowy and Bank Ochrony Środowiska have all undertaken to remedy the adverse consequences of the practices applied, including to compensate their customers for the losses which they may have incurred as a result. The total amount of compensation payable may amount to as much as PLN 80 million. Depending on the bank, consumers shall be able to take advantage of various services such free ATM service or free text message notifications; alternatively, they may be offered a reimbursement of the overpayment amounts. Detailed information shall be provided by the banks in separate correspondence.

Additional information for the media:

Press Office of the UOKiK
pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa

Phone: 695 902 088
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