• President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny has imposed nearly PLN 12.5 million penalties on BO Energy (formerly FG Energy).
• There were as many as 12 unauthorised clauses in the contracts drafted by the company that infringed consumers’ rights.
• BO Energy also engaged in a number of unfair practices, for which the President of UOKiK find it more than PLN 28 million in December 2022.

BO Energy (formerly FG Energy), based in Kraków, sells and installs photovoltaic installations throughout Poland. It concludes contracts off-premises and offers consumers a complete turnkey photovoltaic installation - from audit, through design, to the finalisation of the service and handover of the finished product.

The implementation of the photovoltaic installations took place on the basis of model contracts prepared by the company, in which the Authority identified many prohibited clauses. The clauses only protected the company’s interests and could lead to serious consequences for consumers: a change in the completion date of the work, an increase in price or even non-performance of the service due to the withdrawal of the contractor. Disadvantageous conditions for consumers included:

• The obligation to approve the design of the installation, which may have limited the freedom to assess whether the proposed solutions meet consumer expectations.
• The need for an additional, chargeable expert opinion on the strength of the roof on pain of termination of the contract.
• The possibility of additional costs, which for the consumer meant an increase in price, which is a key element when choosing a contractor.
• Extension of the installation deadline in the event of adverse weather conditions. The consumer did not know what type of weather prevented the work from being carried out and the delay he had to expect.
• The contractor’s withdrawal from the contract without any compensation to the investor.  On the other hand, if the consumer withdraws, he or she pays a contractual penalty of PLN 1,000.
• Presumption of acceptance of the visualisation of the installation if the consumer does not make objections within three days.
• Exclusions from the contract of material documents containing all arrangements and technical details. Without them, the consumer could not be sure that the installation would be carried out according to his or her needs and in the location he or she indicated.

- For consumers, photovoltaics are a major investment and an expense of up to several tens of thousands of zloty. No entrepreneur, including those operating in a currently popular industry, may use abusive clauses in a contract which infringe consumers’ rights. The contractual provisions drafted by BO Energy largely transferred the risks of doing business to investors and did not safeguard their interests. They may have resulted in such grossly disadvantageous consequences for customers as a change in price or receiving an installation that is not in line with expectations and needs - says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

The President of UOKiK imposed a fine of almost PLN 12.5 million (PLN 12,418,746) on BO Energy (formerly FG Energy). Once the decision becomes final, the company will also have to inform consumers who have concluded photovoltaic contracts with it about the prohibited contractual provisions and indicate that they should be treated as if they were not in the contract in general.

In December 2022 the President of UOKiK issued a decision in which he imposed a fine of more than PLN 28 million on BO Energy for unfair practices such as making it difficult for consumers to withdraw from a contract at no cost, misleading them about the cooperation with the Ministry of Climate and about the free nature of the audit.

Decisions are not final.

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