Competition & Consumer Law Update for Poland | August 2025

The Polish Competition Authority imposes further penalties for online sales bans. 

The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has imposed a fine of over PLN 4 million on another bicycle manufacturer for preventing dealers from selling products online. 

As indicated by the authority, the blocking of online sales involved an actual ban on online sales by imposing an obligation to deliver a fully assembled bicycle to the consumer in person, as well as a ban on sales via marketplaces such as Allegro and eBay. Sales by dealers with delivery to the consumer also resulted in intervention by the manufacturer.  It should be stressed that the ban on online sales has recently been recognised by competition authorities as a hardcore restriction.

This is not the first case concerning the ban on online sales in the bicycle market. In recent years, proceedings against Merida (fine of PLN 2.5 million) and Trek have been concluded with varying results, and proceedings against Kellys Bicycles are still pending. We have written more about these proceedings here: https://www.eversheds-sutherland.com/fi/poland/insights/online-sale-restrictions 

33 entrepreneurs charged with collusion on the labour market – another trend in the practice of the Polish Competition Authority

For several years, cases concerning so-called collusion in labour markets have been gaining momentum. After imposing penalties on sports clubs (Polish basketball and speedway leagues), the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection brought charges against one of the largest supermarket chains and 32 transport companies cooperating with it. 

The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection suspects that the companies entered into an agreement limiting drivers' ability to change jobs in order to avoid poaching each other's employees (so-called no-poach agreements). 

This is the first case of its kind in Poland involving markets other than sports leagues, highlighting new and real risks associated with the need to apply competition law in the HR sector. 

Agricultural machinery – continuation of proceedings on dealer markets.

 For several years, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has been conducting proceedings concerning dealer markets. First, penalties for anti-competitive agreements were imposed on DAF truck dealers and later IVECO truck dealers. Another investigation and decision found that KIA Polska and dealers of this brand had engaged in anti-competitive practices and imposed fines (totaling PLN 405 million). 

This time, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection announced charges in the agricultural machinery market, including tractors and combine harvesters manufactured by Valtra, Fendt and Massey Ferguson. As in previous proceedings, these charges mainly concern market sharing at the distribution level. 

This is already the third proceeding against agricultural machinery dealers in Poland. A few months earlier, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection announced similar actions against dealers of New Holland, Case, Steyr and Claas.

Penalty for misleading review system 

As it appears from the findings of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, the popular marketplace misled consumers about the mechanism for rating sellers and products offered on the platform. According to the statement of the authority, those entitled to post reviews on the website were referred to as "buyers", which suggested that making a purchase was the basic criterion for subsequently rating a seller. However, sellers began to report that they were receiving negative reviews from users to whom they had not sold the goods offered. 

Furthermore, access to posting reviews for all purchases was not the same, which could distort the overall rating of the seller on the website. The website sent one invitation per week to post a review, and the invitation concerned the rating of the last purchase. 

At the same time, the rating system was designed to inflate user ratings through two mechanisms: the system assigned a higher weight to positive ratings than to negative ones, and ratings below the middle of the scale were classified and presented as positive. 

The penalty imposed on the marketplace amounted to over PLN 28 million. The platform was also required to publish announcements about the decision on its website, in its mobile app and on social media (Facebook and Instagram). The decision is not final, and the company may appeal to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.

First allegations of greenwashing against courier and transport companies

Recently, there has been widespread media coverage of allegations against four companies in the logistics industry that emphasised their pro-environmental activities and low carbon emissions in their marketing communications.

According to a statement of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, announcements such as "green fleet", "zero-emission", "environmentally neutral" and "zero-emission e-commerce delivery" were based on incomplete data or only concerned a fragment of the courier companies' activities. 

On the other hand, campaigns such as "We Plant Trees" were based on conditions that were not clearly and comprehensively communicated to consumers. What is more, one of the courier companies was supposed to provide its customers with a carbon footprint calculator in its app. According to the authority, its calculations are based on selective data, ignoring how consumers receive their parcels. 

If the allegations of so-called "eco-washing" are confirmed, the companies face penalties of up to 10% of their turnover, but in practice, the negative consequences for their reputation may prove much more severe.

At the same time, the authority is conducting nine investigations into suspected greenwashing by companies in the clothing, retail, e-commerce and transport services sectors. In the past, the authority has also investigated the marketing communications of companies in the cosmetics industry. Because of the upcoming changes in national consumer legislation in counteracting pseudo-ecological misleading practices, businesses must expect an upward trend in such activities.  

Prohibited modification clauses in T&Cs and a lack of information on changes on a durable medium

A company providing e-payment services used a modification clause in its contracts with Polish users of the service, based on which it unilaterally introduced new fees and increased existing ones. According to the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, consumers complained, among other things, about the inactivity fee introduced in 2020. 

The provision in terms and conditions entitling the service provider to make changes was broad and vague. It stated that the service provider "may from time to time make changes to this Agreement with the User and to other documents mentioned above" and, according to the authority, did not meet the standards of proper modification clauses in contracts concluded for an indefinite period – B2C terms and conditions should precisely specify the procedure and conditions for introducing such changes. 

In addition, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection substantiated that the service provider had committed another violation – the company had failed to provide consumers with information about proposed changes to contracts on a durable medium. 

Information about changes to the contract's content (most often, the amount of fees) was provided in an email containing a link to the website. Its content was subject to modification. As emphasised by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, the law requires that consumers be provided with information on changes on a medium that is protected against interference by the sender. A durable medium can be, among other things, a paper document, a memory card, a USB stick, an email or a file attached to it, e.g. in PDF format. A hyperlink redirecting to a website does not meet the requirements of a durable medium.

The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection decided to impose an obligation on the company to remove the ongoing effects of the infringements and to refrain from imposing financial penalties. The service provider was obliged, among other things, to refund consumers for the wrongly charged fees, publish appropriate notices on the Internet and in the mobile application, and send relevant information to users in individual e-mails. The decisions are not yet final but given the agreement reached between the company and the authority, no appeals to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection are expected in these cases.