Black Friday is getting closer. Penalties will pile up? UOKiK charges the trade giants

UOKiK wants to fine three more companies for hiding information that should be clearly shown to consumers.

UOKiK brought charges against three giants. For hiding the lowest price

The EU Omnibus Directive has been introduced to help customers differentiate actual promotions from these “far-fetched” (or simply false). This phenomenon was particularly evident every year on Black Friday, when some sellers intentionally inflated their prices, in order to be able to lower them a bit on the day of the shopping holiday. Now – in accordance with the regulations – each store organizing a sale must clearly indicate the lowest price of a given product from the last 30 days.

And these are of course not the only obligations arising from the directive. Online stores must also provide information on whether and how they verify product reviews, and trading platforms must clearly state whether a given offer comes from a private person or an entrepreneur. This information is extremely important because it defines the rights that the consumer is entitled to or determines how he should submit a complaint.

Now UOKiK has found further cases of breaking the law introduced in January. According to the office, the President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, set three companies – Zalando, Booking and Travelist – allegations of infringement of collective consumer interests. Enterprises are threatened with a gigantic financial penalty – up to 10 percent. turnover.

UOKiK admonished companies that did not comply with the rules of the Omnibus Directive

UOKiK explains that these three companies had previously been admonished by the president of the office, but despite the calls, they did not introduce changes resulting from the directive, or even expressed their intention to implement them. platforms did not clearly indicate which of the offers came from traders and which from private sellers.

Customers of these platforms may not have been clearly informed whether the presented offer comes from an entrepreneur or a natural person who is not an entrepreneur and what is the division of responsibilities between the platform and sellers or service providers, which could make it difficult for consumers to take action, e.g. in the event of a complaint. Consumers could be deprived of access to important information and, as a result, the possibility of consciously concluding transactions on clear and transparent terms

– I’m writing

Previously, UOKiK conducted an analysis of the offers of e-commerce platforms operating in Poland and admonished several enterprises. Some of them are the largest trade and service giants – glovo, Uber Eats, Pyszne.pl, Wolt, Bolt Food, Aliexpress, Wakacje.pl, FREE NOW, Uber, Bolt, Facebook, Morele.net, Empik, Triverna.pl, Amazon and Allegro. All these companies, after the intervention of the office, adapted to the new regulations or declared that they would do so in a short time.