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Information Obligations and Disinformation of Consumers: Polish Law Report

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Information Obligations and Disinformation of Consumers

Part of the book series: Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law ((GSCL,volume 33))

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Abstract

The chapter discusses the Polish legal framework, which aims to empower consumers through information and protect them against disinformation. It presents the perspective of one of the Central and Eastern European countries, in which the development of consumer law, for the most part, took place after the economic and political transformation post-1989 and was profoundly affected by the later EU accession. The chapter examines national legal provisions implementing key European directives on consumer protection such as Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts, Directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices and Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights and sheds light on the relevant enforcement practice. It draws attention to the instances, where applicable domestic law goes beyond or departs from the European model, beginning with the definition of a ‘consumer’ set out in the Polish Civil Code. The discussion of the crosscutting issues, such as pre-contractual disclosure duties and transparency in advertising, is subsequently complemented with the sector-specific insights on financial and digital markets.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See generally: Łętowska (2002), pp. 2–10.

  2. 2.

    Article 76 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland (Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) of 2 April 1997, Dz.U. 1997 nr 78 poz. 483.

  3. 3.

    Implementation of a considerable body of consumer law directives was a condition for Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004; Gnela (2013), p. 56.

  4. 4.

    As evidenced by the adoption of the Act of 5 August 2015 amending the Act on competition and consumer protection and other legal acts (Ustawa o zmianie ustawy o ochronie konkurencji i konsumentów oraz niektórych innych ustaw), Dz.U. 2015 poz. 1634, which entered into force in 2016, and the Act of 16 September 2011 on the protection of the rights of the buyer of a residential unit or a single family home (Ustawa o ochronie praw nabywcy lokalu mieszkalnego lub domu jednorodzinnego), Dz.U. 2016 poz. 555 (codified version). See generally: Piszcz and Namysłowska (2016) and Strzelczyk (2013).

  5. 5.

    See e.g. judgment of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw of 28 April 2015 (VI ACa 775/14).

  6. 6.

    The right to be informed might, in particular, be aligned with the general principles guiding the performance of contractual obligations set out in Article 354 of the Civil Code, see: Act of 23 April 1964—Civil Code (Kodeks cywilny), Dz.U. 2017 poz. 459 (codified version); Pachuca-Smulska (2013), p. 44.

  7. 7.

    See e.g. judgment of the Supreme Court of 4 March 2014 (III SK 34/13).

  8. 8.

    Pajor (2014), p. 254.

  9. 9.

    See e.g. recital 13 of Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights, amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 85/577/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Consumer Rights Directive) [2011] OJ L304/64.

  10. 10.

    The amendment was introduced together with the adoption of the Act of 30 May 2014 on consumer rights (Ustawa o prawach konsumenta), Dz.U. 2017 poz. 683 (codified version).

  11. 11.

    See e.g. judgment of the Supreme Court of 13 June 2012 (II CSK 515/11); Sokołowski (2012), pp. 116–117.

  12. 12.

    Resolution of the Supreme Court of 9 September 2015 (III SZP 2/15); see also: Kohutek (2016), p. 87; cf. judgment of the Supreme Court of 16 April 2015 (III SK 42/14).

  13. 13.

    See e.g. order of the Supreme Court of 15 March 2000 (I CKN 1325/99).

  14. 14.

    The extent of this margin has been subject to criticism, see e.g. Rządkowski (2016), p. 929.

  15. 15.

    Recital 17 of Directive 2011/83/EU.

  16. 16.

    In the order of 8 August 2016, the Court of Appeals in Lublin (I ACz 631/15) held that a person investing in a foreign exchange market cannot be considered as a consumer since such an investor must possess extraordinary knowledge of the financial market, which is not available to a regular consumer and is not needed to meet his or her typical needs. This finding was, however, successfully contested before the Supreme Court (IV CSK 667/16) in line with the official position of the President of UOKiK on the matter; for discussion of other borderline situations see: Chojecka and Nowak (2016), p. 68.

  17. 17.

    See e.g.: Sieradzka (2015), p. 251.

  18. 18.

    Pajor (2014), p. 250.

  19. 19.

    See: Act of 29 August 1997 on travel services (Ustawa o usługach turystycznych), Dz.U. 2016 poz. 187 (codified version), which generally refers to a ‘customer’, but in Article 11 provides for a subsidiary application of consumer law; Cybula (2012), pp. 169–170.

  20. 20.

    See the discussion of cases concerning liability of financial institutions for the damage caused to consumers due to fraudulent conduct of their employees in Sect. 1.3 further below.

  21. 21.

    Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive) [2005] OJ L149/22.

  22. 22.

    Act of 23 August 2007 on countering unfair market practices (Ustawa o przeciwdziałaniu nieuczciwym praktykom rynkowym), Dz.U. 2016 poz. 3 (codified version).

  23. 23.

    See, in particular: judgment of the Supreme Court in case III SK 34/13 (n 7), mentioning an established ruling practice; similarly: judgments of the Supreme Court of 29 November 2013 (I CSK 87/13), 8 May 2014 (III SK 45/13) and of 16 April 2015 (III SK 24/14); judgments of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw of 14 November 2014 (VI ACa 116/14), 30 November 2015 (VI ACa 1685/14) and of 22 March 2017 (VI ACa 1863/15).

  24. 24.

    See e.g. judgment of the Supreme Court of 23 April 2008 (III CSK 377/07).

  25. 25.

    Ibidem.

  26. 26.

    See e.g. judgment of the Court of Appeals in Poznań of 18 April 2013 (I ACa 263/13).

  27. 27.

    See e.g. judgment of the Supreme Court in case II CSK 515/11 (n 11); judgments of the Supreme Court of 17 September 2014 (I CSK 555/13), 15 February 2013 (I CSK 313/12) and of 4 March 2016 (I CSK 72/15).

  28. 28.

    Lubasz and Namysłowska (2015), pp. 107, 141; European Commission (2017), p. 907; Świerczyński (2015), p. 142.

  29. 29.

    Judgments of the Supreme Court of 14 January 2016 (I CSK 43/15) and of 17 April 2015 (I CSK 216/14); judgment of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw of 26 January 2016 (I Aca 612/15).

  30. 30.

    Judgment of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw of 17 January 2013 (VI ACa 1069/12).

  31. 31.

    See e.g. judgment of the Supreme Court of 21 April 2011 (III SK 45/10), which rejected a similar finding.

  32. 32.

    See e.g. decisions of the President of UOKiK of 7 August 2014 (RPZ 17/2014), 9 March 2016 (RPZ 2/2016), 24 September 2016 (RPZ 6/2016), 3 October 2016 (RPZ 7/2016) and of 23 December 2016 (RPZ 11/2016).

  33. 33.

    Decisions of the President of UOKiK of 13 April 2017 (RGD 2/2017), of 26 March 2018 (DOIK 1/2018) and of 24 July 2018 (RŁO 2/2018).

  34. 34.

    See e.g. reports on the standard conditions of business used by: healthcare establishments (2006), traders concluding reverse mortgage agreements (2013), establishments providing care for people with disabilities, chronically ill or the elderly (2015), operators of children play rooms (2017), https://uokik.gov.pl/raporty2.php.

  35. 35.

    European Commission (2017), pp. 888, 919, noting that Polish courts tend to reject the arguments of the consumer protection authority that an investigated practice was directed at a group of vulnerable consumers; see also: judgment of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw in case VI ACa 1685/14 (n 23).

  36. 36.

    See: judgment of the Supreme Court of 2 October 2007 (II CSK 289/07) concerning the consumers of medicines.

  37. 37.

    The courts accept, for instance, that consumers of telecommunication services are generally more technology-savvy and better acquainted with the specifics of the telecommunications market. This, however, cannot justify the provision of false information in a marketing campaign, see e.g.: judgment of the Supreme Court in case III SK 34/13 (n 7).

  38. 38.

    Judgment of the Supreme Court in case I CSK 555/13 (n 27).

  39. 39.

    Act of 30 May 2014 on consumer rights (n 10).

  40. 40.

    See Sects. 5.2 and 6.1 further below.

  41. 41.

    For a discussion of exemptions from the scope of the Act on consumer rights and their respective rationales see: Piszcz (2015), p. 110.

  42. 42.

    Act of 7 October 1999 on Polish language (Ustawa o języku polskim), Dz.U. 2011 nr 43 poz. 224 (codified version).

  43. 43.

    Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market [2006] OJ L376/36.

  44. 44.

    Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce) [2000] OJ L178/1.

  45. 45.

    Lubasz and Namysłowska (2015), pp. 138–141.

  46. 46.

    Act of 20 May 1971—Code of Offences (Kodeks wykroczeń), Dz.U. 2015 poz. 1094 (codified version).

  47. 47.

    Such a sanction was, by contrast, introduced in Article 41 of the Act on consumer rights with respect to distance contracts for the provision of financial services, which re-implemented Directive 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 concerning the distance marketing of consumer financial services and amending Council Directive 90/619/EEC and Directives 97/7/EC and 98/27/EC [2002] OJ L271/16, as well as in Article 29 of the Act on the protection of the rights of the buyer of a residential unit or a single family home (n 4).

  48. 48.

    An analogous norm for distance and off-premises contracts is enshrined in Article 23 of the Act on consumer rights.

  49. 49.

    Księżak (2015), pp. 155–158.

  50. 50.

    Judgment of the Supreme Court of 8 October 2004 (V CK 670/03).

  51. 51.

    Similarly Kaczmarek-Templin (2014), p. 106.

  52. 52.

    On the concept of culpa in contrahendo in the Polish law see generally: Machnikowski (2008), p. 699; Olejniczak (2008), p. 87; Sobolewski (2008), p. 393.

  53. 53.

    Following Art. 7(5) of the UCPD, which the Act on countering unfair market practices implements.

  54. 54.

    It is observed that contract invalidation is mentioned as one of the ways in which damage could be compensated pursuant to general rules, but should rather be perceived as an autonomous sanction. At the same time, however, the Act on countering unfair market practices does not include a general norm, pursuant to which legal acts performed as a result of an unfair market practice are automatically void. The provision could therefore only be invoked in conjunction with Article 58 § 1 of the Civil Code, according to which a legal act which is contrary to the law or which is designed to circumvent the law is invalid unless a specific provision envisages a different effect. Joasia Luzak notes that invalidation of the contract was a novel remedy introduced into Polish law, is not entirely compatible with other forms of avoiding the contract and could be compared to the exercise of the right to withdraw, see: European Commission (2017), p. 901; according to Arkadiusz Michalak, handing over unjustified benefits would be a better remedy for the analysed violation, see: Michalak (2008), pp. 123–124.

  55. 55.

    Act of 16 February 2007 on competition and consumer protection (Ustawa o ochronie konkurencji i konsumentów), Dz.U. 2017 poz. 229 (codified version).

  56. 56.

    Acts on unfair competitions refer to practices applied in business-to-business relationships and are therefore less relevant in this context of the present report.

  57. 57.

    See Sects. 3.2, 3.3, 4.3 and 5.1 further below.

  58. 58.

    Decision of the President of UOKiK of 27 December 2016 (DDK 20/2016).

  59. 59.

    In particular in the Act of 12 May 2011 on consumer credit (Ustawa o kredycie konsumenckim), Dz.U. 2016 poz. 1528 (codified version) as well as in the previously applicable Act of 2 March 2000 on the protection of certain consumer rights and on the liability for damage caused by a dangerous product (Ustawa o ochronie niektórych praw konsumentów oraz o odpowiedzialności za szkodę wyrządzoną przez produkt niebezpieczny), Dz.U. 2012 poz. 1225 (codified text), in which a number of information duties in off-premises and distance contracts were defined. See e.g. decisions of the President of UOKiK of 23 December 2014 (DDK 5/2014), 17 August 2016 (DDK 18/2016), 26 August 2016 (DDK 19/2016) and of 3 November 2016 (RBG 8/2016).

  60. 60.

    See e.g. decision of the President of UOKiK of 20 December 2016 (RPZ 10/2016), in which a fine of almost 2 million PLN (approx. 460,000 EUR) was imposed; see also: Namysłowska (2017), pp. 194–195.

  61. 61.

    UOKiK, Sprawozdanie z działalności UOKiK za 2015 r., www.uokik.gov.pl/download.php?plik=18516, 15.

  62. 62.

    Namysłowska and Jabłonowska (2018), p. 448.

  63. 63.

    Regulation (EU) no 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2002/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004 [2011] OJ L304/18.

  64. 64.

    Regulation (EU) No 609/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 on food intended for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control and repealing Council Directive 92/52/EEC, Commission Directives 96/8/EC, 1999/21/EC, 2006/125/EC and 2006/141/EC, Directive 2009/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulations (EC) No 41/2009 and (EC) No 953/2009 [2013] OJ L181/35.

  65. 65.

    Act of 25 August 2006 on food and nutrition safety (Ustawa o bezpieczeństwie żywności i żywienia), Dz.U. 2017 poz. 149 (codified version).

  66. 66.

    Directive 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 June 2002 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to food supplements [2002] OJ L183/51.

  67. 67.

    Directive 2009/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 on the exploitation and marketing of natural mineral waters [2009] OJ L164/45.

  68. 68.

    Article 45(3) of the Act on food and nutrition safety. Reference to the category of food for special nutritional purposes shows a clear inspiration by EU law since the same term was also used in Directive 2009/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on foodstuffs intended for particular nutritional uses [2009] OJ L124/21. The Directive was, nevertheless, repealed in July 2016 by Regulation 609/2013, which replaced the category of food for special nutritional purposes with five different product groups. Polish food law thus requires several terminological adjustments in order to maintain coherence with the applicable EU framework.

  69. 69.

    Article 2(a) of Directive 2002/46/EC.

  70. 70.

    https://www.nik.gov.pl/plik/id,13031,vp,15443.pdf.

  71. 71.

    Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed [2003] OJ L268/1.

  72. 72.

    Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 concerning the traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms and the traceability of food and feed products produced from genetically modified organisms and amending Directive 2001/18/EC [2003] OJ L268/24.

  73. 73.

    Regulation (EC) No 258/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 1997 concerning novel foods and novel food ingredients [1997] OJ L43/1.

  74. 74.

    Act of 24 August 2001—Code of Procedure for Offences (Kodeks postępowania w sprawach o wykroczenia), Dz.U. 2016 poz. 1713 (codified version).

  75. 75.

    Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods [2006] OJ L404/9.

  76. 76.

    See: judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 5 April 2017 (II OSK 2203/15).

  77. 77.

    On the discussion of the application of the vulnerable consumer category see Sect. 1.3 above.

  78. 78.

    See: judgments of the Supreme Court of 8 May 2014 (III SK 45/13), 27 August 2014 (III SK 80/13), 9 April 2015 (III SK 47/14) and of 16 April 2015 (III SK 24/14); European Commission (2017), p. 883.

  79. 79.

    See generally: Namysłowska (2014), p. 255.

  80. 80.

    An analogous rule applies to misleading omissions—see Article 6(5) of the Act on countering unfair market practices.

  81. 81.

    Decision of the President of UOKiK of 30 December 2016 (RBG 10/2016).

  82. 82.

    Decision of the President of UOKiK of 28 December 2012 (RPZ 46/2012).

  83. 83.

    Judgment of the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection of 2 February 2015 (XVII AmA 60/13).

  84. 84.

    Decision of the President of UOKiK of 30 June 2017 (RKR 4/2017).

  85. 85.

    See Sect. 2.1.3 above.

  86. 86.

    European Commission (2017), p. 897.

  87. 87.

    It is, nevertheless, cited in cases in which traders failed to disclose his commercial intent to consumers, see e.g. decisions of the President of UOKiK in cases RPZ 17/2014, RPZ 2/2016, RPZ 6/2016 and RPZ 11/2016 (n 31).

  88. 88.

    See, however, the decision of the President of UOKiK in case RGD 2/2017 (n 33) in which Article 6 was relied upon with respect to a trader’s violation of a duty to inform about the consumer’s right to withdraw from an off-premises contract. See also Miąsik (2014), p. 766, who notes that Article 24(2)(2) can only be applied to infringements of particular information duties established in the statutory law.

  89. 89.

    Articles 16–17a of the Act of 29 December 1992 on radio and television (Ustawa o radiofonii i telewizji), Dz.U. 2016 poz. 639 (codified version).

  90. 90.

    Articles 52–64 of the Act of 6 September 2001—Pharmaceutical law (Prawo farmaceutyczne), Dz.U. 2016 poz. 2142 (codified version).

  91. 91.

    See the discussion on consumer credit and consumer mortgage credit in Sect. 5 further below.

  92. 92.

    www.radareklamy.pl/english.

  93. 93.

    See Sect. 5.3 further below.

  94. 94.

    Directive 2018/1808 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 amending Directive 2010/13/EU on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive) in view of changing market realities [2018] OJ L303/69.

  95. 95.

    Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts [1993] OJ L95/29.

  96. 96.

    Judgment of the Supreme Court in case II CSK 515/11 (n 11).

  97. 97.

    European Commission (2017), p. 903.

  98. 98.

    Article 3851 § 1 of the Civil Code in fine.

  99. 99.

    Judgment of the Supreme Court in case I CSK 72/15 (n 27).

  100. 100.

    See Sect. 1.3 above.

  101. 101.

    Judgment of the Supreme Court in case I CSK 555/13 (n 27).

  102. 102.

    Judgments of the Supreme Court in cases I CSK 313/12 and I CSK 72/15 (n 27).

  103. 103.

    Judgments of the Supreme Court of 13 July 2005 (I CK 832/04), 3 February 2006 (I CK 297/05) and of 15 January 2016 (I CSK 125/15); see also: European Commission (2017), p. 903.

  104. 104.

    European Commission (2017), p. 905; judgment of the Supreme Court in case I CSK 313/12 (n 27).

  105. 105.

    See e.g.: Ereciński (2016), p. 745; see also: resolution of the Supreme Court of 20 November 2015 (III CZP 17/15).

  106. 106.

    Judgment of the Court of Justice of 21 December 2016 in case C-119/15 Biuro podróży Partner, ECLI:EU:C:2016:987.

  107. 107.

    Decision of the President of UOKiK of 5 June 2017 (RBG 3/2017).

  108. 108.

    Act of 14 June 1960—Code of Administrative Procedure (Kodeks postępowania administracyjnego), Dz.U. 2017 poz. 1257 (codified version).

  109. 109.

    Act of 17 November 1964—Code of Civil Procedure (Kodeks postępowania cywilnego), Dz.U. 2016 poz. 1822 (codified version).

  110. 110.

    Article 47928 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

  111. 111.

    Decision of the President of UOKiK in case RBG 3/2017 (n 107).

  112. 112.

    See generally: Tereszkiewicz (2015).

  113. 113.

    Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC [2008] OJ L133/66.

  114. 114.

    Act of 23 March 2017 on mortgage credit and the supervision of mortgage credit brokers and agents (Ustawa o kredycie hipotecznym oraz o nadzorze nad pośrednikami kredytu hipotecznego i agentami), Dz.U. 2017 poz. 819 (codified version).

  115. 115.

    Directive 2014/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 February 2014 on credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 [2014] OJ L60/34.

  116. 116.

    Act of 22 May 2003 on insurance mediation (Ustawa o pośrednictwie ubezpieczeniowym), Dz.U. 2016 poz. 2077 (codified version).

  117. 117.

    Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 December 2002 on insurance mediation [2003] OJ L9/3.

  118. 118.

    Directive (EU) 2016/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 January 2016 on insurance distribution (recast), OJ L26/19.

  119. 119.

    Act of 19 August 2011 on payment services (Ustawa o usługach płatniczych), Dz.U. 2016 poz. 1572 (codified version).

  120. 120.

    Directive 2007/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on payment services in the internal market amending Directives 97/7/EC, 2002/65/EC, 2005/60/EC and 2006/48/EC and repealing Directive 97/5/EC [2007] OJ L319/1.

  121. 121.

    Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 2002/65/EC, 2009/110/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, and repealing Directive 2007/64/EC [2015] OJ L337/35.

  122. 122.

    Council Directive 87/102/EEC of 22 December 1986 for the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning consumer credit [1987] OJ L42/48.

  123. 123.

    See e.g. decisions of the President of UOKiK of 9 March 2016 (DDK 3/2016, DDK 4/2016, DDK 5/2016, DDK 6/2016 and DDK 7/2016), 19 May 2016 (RBG 4/2016), 28 June 2016 (RKT 03/2016), 30 June 2016 (RKR 2/2016), 8 August 2016 (RKT 5/2016), 26 August 2016 (DDK 19/2016), 7 September 2016 (RKT 06/2016), 17 October 2016 (RPZ 9/2016), 21 October 2016 (RKR 5/2016), 2 November 2016 (RBG 8/2016), 21 November 2016 (RKR 9/2016) and of 5 December 2016 (RKT 7/2016).

  124. 124.

    See in particular: position papers of the Polish Bank Association (Związek Banków Polskich), Polish Employers (Pracodawcy RP), Konfederacja Lewiatan (Lewiatan Confederation), Association of Loan Companies (Związek Firm Pożyczkowych) and the Conference of Financial Companies in Poland (Konferencja Przedsiębiorstw Finansowych w Polsce) http://legislacja.rcl.gov.pl/projekt/12286052/katalog/12355934#12355934.

  125. 125.

    Konferencja Przedsiębiorstw Finansowych w Polsce, Provident, Związek Firm Pożyczkowych, Związek Banków Polskich, ‘Dobre praktyki w zakresie standardów reklamowania kredytu konsumenckiego’ (2016), https://zbp.pl/public/repozytorium/dla_konsumentow/rekomendacje/Dobre_Praktyki_Reklamy_Kredytu_Konsumenckiego.pdf.

  126. 126.

    Act of 18 lipca 2002 on the electronic provision of services (Ustawa o świadczeniu usług drogą elektroniczną), Dz.U. 2017 poz. 1219 (codified version); see also: Lubasz (2011), pp. 106–133.

  127. 127.

    Wojtaszek-Mik (2014), p. 24.

  128. 128.

    The relevant information refers to: the main characteristics of the goods or services and the means of communication with the trader, the total price, the duration, including the minimum duration, of the contract and, if the contract is of indeterminate duration, the conditions for terminating the contract.

  129. 129.

    See, in particular: Research group on the Law of Digital Services (2016), p. 164.

  130. 130.

    See Sect. 2.1.2 above. As regards public enforcement see also: decisions of the President of UOKiK of 31 March 2016 (RKT 02/2016) and of 28 December 2018 (RWA 7/2016).

  131. 131.

    Lubasz (2015), p. 222; Czech (2017), p. 332.

  132. 132.

    Article 29 of the Act on consumer rights.

  133. 133.

    Article 34(4) of the Act on consumer rights.

  134. 134.

    Lubasz (2011), p. 64.

  135. 135.

    Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications) [2002] L201/37.

  136. 136.

    Act of 16 July 2004—Telecommunication Law (Prawo telekomunikacyjne), Dz.U. 2016 poz. 1489 (codified version).

  137. 137.

    The Polish legislator chose an opt-in solution in this respect, permitted under Article 7 of Directive 2000/31/EC; see also: Malarewicz (2009), pp. 222–223.

  138. 138.

    Article 174 of the Telecommunication Law provides that the consent of a subscriber cannot be presumed or implied, can be expressed by electronic means provided that it is recorded and confirmed by the subscriber and can be revoked easily, at any time, free of charge.

  139. 139.

    Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 amending Directive 2002/22/EC on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications networks and services, Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws [2009] OJ L337/11.

  140. 140.

    Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the respect for private life and the protection of personal data in electronic communications and repealing Directive 2002/58/EC (Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications), COM(2017) 10 final.

  141. 141.

    Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) [2016] OJ L119/1.

  142. 142.

    Lubasz and Namysłowska (2015), p. 137; Pachuca-Smulska (2013), p. 45; Świerczyński (2015), p. 144; Czech (2017), p. 266.

  143. 143.

    See e.g.: Howells (2005), p. 349; Sibony and Helleringer (2015), p. 209; Grundmann (2016), p. 223.

  144. 144.

    European Commission (2017), p. 887; judgment of the Supreme Court in case III SK 34/13 (n 7), judgment of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw in case VI ACa 1685/14 (n 23); see, however, judgment of the Supreme Court in case III SK 45/10 (n 31), in which the court agreed that such evidence should not have been rejected.

  145. 145.

    Jabłonowska et al. (2018), p. 11.

  146. 146.

    https://www.gov.pl/cyfryzacja/na-efni-o-sztucznej-inteligencji-oraz-rownosci-spolecznej.

  147. 147.

    European Commission (2017), p. 918. Attention should, nevertheless, be drawn to the Act on the protection of the rights of the buyer of a residential unit or a single family home (n 4), in which additional information requirements and other protective stipulations can be found.

  148. 148.

    http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/just/item-detail.cfm?item_id=59332.

  149. 149.

    UOKiK, Znajomość praw konsumenckich oraz analiza barier utrudniających konsumentom bezpieczne i satysfakcjonujące uczestnictwo w rynku – raport z badań (2009).

  150. 150.

    www.pssb.pl/pssb/news/details,1,,169,konsument-coraz-bardziej-swiadomy-swoich-praw.html.

  151. 151.

    European Commission, Consumer Conditions Scoreboard, 11th edn, 17–20, www.ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_evidence/consumer_scoreboards/11_edition/docs/ccs2015scoreboard_en.pdf.

  152. 152.

    See e.g. www.federacja-konsumentow.org.pl/59,kampanie.html; www.konsumenci.org/pomoc-konsumencka,dla-seniorow,2,26.html; https://finanse.uokik.gov.pl/; www.prawakonsumenta.uokik.gov.pl; www.uokik.gov.pl/education_campaigns.php.

  153. 153.

    Namysłowska and Jabłonowska (2018), pp. 437, 452.

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Acknowledgement

The research of Agnieszka Jabłonowska resulting in this publication was partially financed by the National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki) in Poland on the basis of decision no. DEC-2015/19/N/HS5/ 01557.

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    Monika Namysłowska & Agnieszka Jabłonowska

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Namysłowska, M., Jabłonowska, A. (2019). Information Obligations and Disinformation of Consumers: Polish Law Report. In: Straetmans, G. (eds) Information Obligations and Disinformation of Consumers. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 33. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18054-6_8

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