Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) is investigating whether consumers have been misled by how two electric companies conclude agreements off company premises.

Electric energy providers Polski Prąd of Warsaw and Multimedia Polska Energia of Gdynia both sign agreements off company premises through sales representatives visiting consumers in their homes.

UOKiK initiated proceedings for practices infringing collective consumer interests against the two companies after analysing consumer complaints. Many said that the agents misled them by claiming that they represented the consumers’ current electricity supplier. They also informed consumers that the purpose of their the visit was not to sign a new contract but only to fill out a questionnaire or check the electricity meter. “What many consumers did not realize,” explained UOKiK President Marek Niechciał, “was that by signing the documents submitted to them for their signatures, they were entering into a contract with a new electricity supplier.”

Under the law, every enterprise is required to inform consumers, by clear and understandable means, of its identity and the goals with which it is contacting them — including the goal of signing a new contract. Further, consumers have 14 days from the day of signing an agreement off company premises to withdraw from it. They must also have access to reliable information about the offers they are presented.

In UOKiK’s view, the belief that one is dealing with one’s existing energy supplier can have a big impact on the decision to take advantage of an offer from another supplier. Misleading consumers is recognized as breaking the law on unfair commercial practices

Complaints UOKiK has received have revealed that representatives of Polski Prąd and Multimedia Polska Energia failed not only to inform their customers of the right to withdraw from the contract but also did not provide them with the forms required to go through with such a withdrawal. In UOKiK’s view, these practices are illegal, because they make it difficult or even impossible for consumers to use their right to withdraw.

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