– After considering the appeal of the entrepreneur Jeronimo Martins Polska SA with its registered office in Kostrzyn against the decision of the Mazovian Voivodeship Inspector of Trade Inspection of 21 March 2024, on the basis of which a fine of PLN 18,000 was imposed on the entrepreneur under Art. 6 sec. 2 of the Act of 9 May 2014 on informing about the prices of goods and services, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection upholds the appealed decision – we read in the UOKiK decision.
Inspectors in Biedronka stores
On January 4-11, 2024, inspectors representing the Mazovian Voivodeship Inspectorate of Trade Inspection in Warsaw carried out inspection activities in the Biedronka store.
During the inspection, the correctness of price information was checked for 250 randomly selected batches of products included in the store’s commercial offer, and irregularities were found in a total of 29 of them, i.e.: missing prices and unit prices were found for 25 batches of goods and missing prices were found for 4 batches of goods.
– The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, analyzing the case files and the content of the contested decision
drew attention to the indication by Mazowiecki WIIH that the inspected entrepreneur had failed to fulfil the obligations referred to in art. 4 sec. 1 of the Act on Prices at least three times in the period of 12 months from the day on which the breach of these obligations was found for the first time – it was written.
– The evidence collected shows that the gravity of the infringement certainly cannot be considered negligible, because the lack of prices is a violation of consumers' interests in terms of their right to obtain reliable and comprehensive information. This type of infringement constitutes a threat to the financial interests of consumers, and thus excludes the possibility of considering the degree of this infringement as negligible – it was added in the justification of the decision.
New law on price visibility
Let us recall that a new law on price visibility has been in force in Poland since 2023. The regulation of the Minister of Development and Technology assumes better information for consumers and easier comparison of prices in stores. It imposes on sellers the obligation to display, in addition to the price and unit price, also information about the reduced price of a product or service.
The aim of the entire package of changes is to strengthen the effectiveness of existing consumer regulations and to modernise and improve certain instruments for protecting consumer interests in the context of the dynamically advancing digitalisation of the economy.
Biedronka was punished quite severely by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in 2020 regarding the visibility of prices. The Court of Competition and Consumer Protection later confirmed that Jeronimo Martins Polska used practices violating the collective interests of consumers regarding price irregularities occurring in Biedronka stores and upheld the imposed penalty of PLN 115 million. In addition to the financial penalty, the court obliged the chain to post information for customers about their rights.
