Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) alleges electricity provider Energa Obrót has been misleading consumers and violating their interests in connection with its Guaranteed Fixed Price offer.

According to the law, an enterprise offering consumers a contract should provide reliable, clear and unambiguous information about its offer. In the case of energy sales, consumers’ knowledge about prices and other financial obligations has an essential influence on their decision to accept the offer. Misleading consumers is a unfair commercial practice and a violation of the law.

Gdansk-based Energa Obrót offers customers comprehensive contracts and contracts for electric energy. Between December 2014 and the end of 2015, UOKiK received numerous complaints about the company’s electric energy sales and its Guaranteed Fixed Price offer. Preliminary proceedings gave the Authority reason to level allegations of wrongdoing. They included the company’s omission of essential information from the its Guaranteed Fixed Price offer about additional handling charges it was later adding to bills. The company also misled consumers about its identity and how it went about submitting its offer, and undertook activities that violated the Act on consumer rights.

Energa Obrót representatives informed consumers as they visited them with their offer that they represented their current energy provider. They also falsely informed them that they would need to sign a new contract to continue to receive electricity. Consumers were then not provided a copy of the contracts they’d entered into in this manner. UOKiK also questioned contracts concluded over the phone, particularly the way the company was recognising them as having been effectively concluded. The company’s actions may have misled consumers, particularly as concerned their right to withdraw from the contract.

The proceeding may end up with the company committing to measures to put an end to the infringement or repair the effects of the illegal practices they have employed or, ultimately, face a UOKiK decision finding infringement of collective consumer interests. Should the latter come to bear, UOKiK would require Energa Obrót to eliminate the practices and lay out measures for the company to repair the effects of the practices. The Authority could also subject Energa Obrót to financial penalties.

Additional information for the media:

Press Office, UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Phone.: +48 22 827 28 92, +48 22 55 60 314, +48 22 55 60 430
E-mail: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]

Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL