• Instead of the promised quick earnings on car rental, consumers have problems at the bank.
• The President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, penalised Praebeo and Auto Rentier for unfair market practices.
• The prosecutor's office is also analysing their operations.

The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection issued two decisions imposing fines on Praebeo and Auto Rentier. Earlier, the President of UOKiK notified the National Prosecutor's Office of suspected infringement of the law by the companies. In the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, the case has the following reference number: PO III Ds. 129.2018.

Praebeo and Auto Rentier tempted consumers with a vision of easy money. You get PLN 600 to your bank account every month, without leaving your home. And so for up to 96 months! - the advertising said. The idea was as follows: the consumer takes a loan from a bank, buys a car from Praebeo or Auto Rentier for around PLN 70,000, while the companies rent the vehicle for 8 years, for example, to companies providing passenger transport services or as a replacement car. From the revenues generated, the companies were to pay the instalments to the bank and a fee to the consumer - PLN 600 per month or PLN 7,200 per year. After 8 years, the customer would have the loan repaid, a car and income of PLN 57,600. The problem is that Praebeo stopped paying instalments after a few months. In addition, UOKiK found irregularities in the advertising message of the companies and the contracts they concluded.

- Praebeo and Auto Rentier concealed the risks related to the contract from consumers. They also set a relatively low contractual penalty of PLN 6,000 PLN for terminating the contract with the consumer. This amount is disproportionate to PLN 100,000 the consumers in this situation owed to the bank for the loan and interest - says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

Some consumers do not even know what car they bought from Praebeo - this is another unfair practice of the company. In many contracts, there was no information on the brand, model, registration number, year of manufacture or VIN. This made it impossible for customers to assess the value of the car and whether the purchase is profitable at all. In the future, this may also make it difficult for them to pursue claims related to getting the vehicle back.

Furthermore, Praebeo did not inform consumers that within 14 days they could withdraw from the off-premises contract without any consequences.

UOKiK imposed fines on both companies. Praebeo and Auto Rentier will have to pay, respectively, PLN 156,000 and PLN 84,000. In addition, both companies must send registered letters with information about the UOKiK’s decisions to all individuals with whom they have concluded agreements.

Consumers will learn from these letters they can demand the damage to be remedied, e.g. by cancelling the contract with the obligation to mutual reimbursement of the benefits as well as the car purchase cost. They can pursue their claims in court individually or ask consumer ombudsmen or consumer organisations for help. It is worth remembering that the final decisions of the President of UOKiK serves as a preliminary ruling in court proceedings. This means that the Authority’s findings regarding the use of unfair practice are binding on the court, so it does not have to conduct the taking of evidence in this respect.

Consumer support:

Phone: +48 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
e-mail: [SCODE]cG9yYWR5QGRsYWtvbnN1bWVudG93LnBs[ECODE]
Consumer Ombudsmen – in your town or district
Regional Consumer Centres: Phone: +48 22 299 60 – Dlakonsumenta.pl

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: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL