Last year, UOKiK addressed 647 requests to entrepreneurs to change the clauses which infringed consumer interest: the participants of the round table, who included Mr. Robert Madelin from the European Commission and Mr. Cezary Banasiński, President of the Office, discussed the supervision of contractual forms and other instruments for the establishment of a secure market

The meeting provided an opportunity for a recapitulation of the measures serving to enhance the efficiency of consumer protection law application, both at the Community and national level. In Poland, the most important document in this respect is the Strategy of Consumer Protection Policy, prepared by UOKiK. The present Strategy will be implemented between 2007-2009 and is already the fifth government programme establishing the framework and priorities of the works for the Council of Ministers in the area of protection of the weaker market participants. The Strategy Guidelines were presented at the round table meeting by Mr. Cezary Banasiński, the President of UOKiK.

The Strategy refers to the guidelines included in the Community Programme for Health and Consumer Protection 2007-2013. Its main priorities include “ensuring high level of consumer protection, in particular through an increased awareness, better consultations and better representation of the consumer interest”, as well as “ensuring efficient application of consumer protection law, in particular through cooperation in the areas of law enforcement, information, education and claims recovery”. According to Mr. Banasiński, the measures that proved efficient during the implementation of the previous government strategy 2004-2006 should also serve to achieve the above-mentioned objectives. The priorities of the 2004-2006 strategy were presented by Ms. Monika Stec and Ms. Justyna Kurek from UOKiK Consumer Policy Department:
• creation of a secure and consumer-friendly market;
• promotion of the social dialogue for consumer protection and self-regulation mechanisms;
• creation of an efficient system of information, advice and claims recovery for consumers;
• active information and education policy.

The main instrument for the establishment of a secure and friendly market is the power of the President of UOKiK to issue decisions imposing abandonment of practices infringing collective consumer interests. In order to make this instrument more efficient, the amendment of the Antitrust Act provides for the possibility of imposing financial penalties amounting up to 10% of the entrepreneur’s previous year’s revenue.

The power of the President of UOKiK to analyse contractual forms serves the same purpose. Only last year, the Office inspected over nine hundred enterprises and found irregularities in more than a half of them. UOKiK lodged 647 requests to eliminate or change the clauses in question. It should be pointed out that entrepreneurs usually comply with those requests on a voluntary basis. The cases where entrepreneurs failed to comply resulted in 85 suits being brought to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection. Contractual provisions deemed illegal by a final judgement of the CCCP are entered into the Prohibited Clauses Register on UOKiK website.

In the opinion of the President of UOKiK, the measures aimed at protecting consumer interests should focus more strongly on the telecommunications sector and other dynamically developing market areas. This involves in particular the new technologies and the increasingly popular online services. Thus, public administration bodies should focus on telephony (including Internet telephony), e-banking and new forms of payment, online music and film services, e-commerce, online auctions and other multimedia and interactive services, as well as all other forms of concluding contracts with consumers by means of distant communication.

The meeting was also attended by the representatives of consumers and entrepreneurs organisations. Establishment of a secure and friendly market depends to a large extent on the efficiency of social dialogue of all market players. That is why, the Guidelines for the Strategy of Consumer Protection Policy 2007-2009 were presented to over 20third sector entities representing the interests of the consumers and entrepreneurs. What is more, UOKiK provides NGOs with financial resources for individual consultancy and educational activity. This year and previous year, UOKiK’s financial support amounted to PLN 2,2 million annually. The same amount is planned for 2007.

The network of over 360 Consumer Ombudsmen operating in each Polish district or larger city is an important element of the system of protection of the weaker market participants. The Ombudsmen provide assistance to individuals with respect to claims recovery. The figures presented by Ms. Małgorzata Rothert, municipal Consumer Ombudsman in Warsaw, at the meeting gave evidence to this institution’s great efficiency of action. Out of approximately 200 court cases, only two ended with a defeat of the consumer. In all the other cases the consumers won and could recover the lost money. Overall, over 70% of the interventions are brought to a happy end for the weaker market participants.

Additional information:
Elżbieta Anders, Spokesperson of UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Tel. (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 314
faks (+48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail [SCODE]ZWFuZGVyc0B1b2tpay5nb3YucGw=[ECODE]