New regulations governing consumer rights

As of January 1, 2023, new regulations governing consumer rights come into force, implementing three European Union directives: the Digital Directive, the Goods Directive and the Omnibus Directive. 

What will change? 

The changes concern the introduction of new obligations for entrepreneurs, including: 

• informing consumers about promotions and price reductions, 
• informing the consumer about individual price adjustments, if the entrepreneur uses such, 
• informing consumers about whether and how the entrepreneur verifies opinions about the products sold (ban on buying product reviews), 
• informing the consumer about the rules of positioning of commercial offers by the entrepreneur, 
• providing digital content and services to consumers (including, in particular, the obligation to ensure that the content or service complies with the contract), 
• liability for a entrepreneur’s failure to provide digital content or service or to provide content or service that does not comply with the contract (granting consumers new claims in the aforementioned areas). 

What are the risks for not implementing the changes? 

Failure to comply with the new regulations will lead to sanctions for entrepreneurs in the form of the possibility of imposing fines by the provincial inspector of the Commercial Inspection (in the amount of up to PLN 40,000) and by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection – in the case of use by the entrepreneur of practices that violate the collective interests of consumers (in the amount of up to 10% of the turnover achieved in the financial year preceding the year of imposing the penalty).  

What steps should be taken to adapt the business to the upcoming changes and avoid the penalties? 

First of all, it is necessary to assess whether the upcoming changes affect the terms and conditions of the business previously conducted by the entrepreneur (this depends primarily on the type of business conducted and the type of customers to whom the offer is addressed), and then analyze and modify the documents used by entrepreneurs on their websites (first of all, you need to pay attention to the rules of sale or provision of services) and adapt the websites and the information posted on them to the realities that will come into effect with the entry into force of the above-mentioned regulations – first and foremost, these include additional requirements for informing about promotions, placement of offers and mechanisms for verifying reviews posted on the website.  

LBKP Law Firm Support 

We have been preparing for a long time for the above changes to take effect. If necessary, we can help you implement them in your documentation and websites – after, of course, assessing in advance whether there is really a need to do so. 

If you are interested in our support, we encourage you to contact Marta Czeladzka (mc@lbplegal.com) and Marta Żukowska (mz@lbplegal.com), who will be happy to answer your questions about the upcoming legal changes and help you implement them. 

Author:

Marta Czeladzka, Attorney-at-Law

Marta Żukowska, Attorney-at-Law