0800 800 008 - a telephone number everyone should know. On UOKiK’s initiative a new consumer infoline will be launched tomorrow. It will allow each consumer in Poland to contact a lawyer on the phone completely free of charge

Struggling with unfair entrepreneurs often requires professional advice. Sometimes the advice is needed urgently. Being a conscious consumer means knowing one’s rights and where to seek assistance. However, knowledge of consumer rights and obligations of entrepreneurs is still insufficient in Poland. Consumers are not always aware of the existence of the institutions which possess legal knowledge and many years of practice in advising weaker market participants and may provide them with effective assistance in claiming their rights. Only 9% of consumers in Poland are familiar with the activity of municipal or poviat consumer ombudsmen. Only 2% of consumers can spontaneously name an institution which deals with the problems of weaker market participants in Poland.

 
So far consumers seeking professional help would address their questions directly to non-governmental organisations cooperating with the Office and poviat and municipal ombudsmen. Last year the activities of the 369 municipal and poviat ombudsmen, thanks to whom consumers are getting more and more familiar with their rights, resulted in almost 1200 cases brought to court on behalf of the aggrieved parties, over 32 000 claims against entrepreneurs and nearly 175 000 pieces of advice and information provided.

UOKiK implements a consumer policy based on many years of practice and experience in protecting weaker market participants. Establishing an effective information system is an absolute priority here and it should first and foremost consist in providing consumer advice.

Starting from tomorrow, 0800 800 008 will become an important number worth carrying in your wallet. The consumer infoline is the first project of this type in Poland. Never before has there been a single telephone number functioning on a national scale, easy to distinguish for consumers, who could dial it to obtain information and assistance in solving their problems. Upon a contract between UOKiK and the Consumer Federation, more complicated consumer matters will be directed to the Federation for further analyses and interventions. Such a solution has already been effectively implemented in other European countries, such as Austria and Germany. The Polish Consumer Association, in turn, was tasked with servicing the infoline, which is available Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to5 p.m. The project is financed in 20% by UOKiK.

The free infoline is not the only consumer initiative - further ones are to be undertaken within a dozen weeks or so. The Office is currently implementing yet another project - the Internet Consumer Complaints Base. The Base will allow a consumer to make virtual contact with an organisation established to protect consumer’s rights. The Base ensures information exchange between all institutions protecting weaker market participants, i.e. municipal and poviat consumer ombudsmen, Trade Inspectorate and permanent consumer conciliation courts at the Trade Inspectorate, as well as the Consumer Federation and the Polish Consumer Association, the largest consumer organisations providing legal advisory services in Poland. By filling out a single form available on-line it will be possible to file a complaint to nearly 500 entities involved in consumer protection. The reply will be provided via the Internet, too. The Consumer Complaints Base will allow the President of UOKiK to analyse the legal situation of consumers and to devise appropriate consumer policy. The Consumer Complaints Base will be an absolutely unique tool of registering consumer complaints, their specifics and their territorial and thematic scope.

Additional information:
Elżbieta Anders, Spokesperson of UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Tel. 22 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 314
faks 22 826 11 86

E-mail [SCODE]ZWFuZGVyc0B1b2tpay5nb3YucGw=[ECODE]