• Are you buying from a business? What are the responsibilities of the seller and what are the responsibilities of the e-commerce platform? You should know that when entering into an agreement online.
• This was unclear on the Travelist.pl website – the President of UOKiK has issued a commitment decision in that matter.
• The company will introduce changes on the website and grant PLN 50 to be used on Travelist.pl.

For the past year and a half, the EU Omnibus Directive has been improving consumer protection in the digital world. One of the introduced changes concerns expanded information obligations imposed on e-commerce platforms. Ever since the new regulations have entered into force, the President of UOKiK has been checking whether they are being duly observed. The latest action taken by the President of UOKiK in relation to the Omnibus Directive is a commitment decision issued against Travelist – a website that allows to book accommodations, attractions, transport and other travel services and products.

The Travelist.pl website was missing information required by the Omnibus Directive – the website did not specify directly and in a visible place that it presents offers originating from businesses and how obligations related to the performance of the agreement are divided between the platform and the business posting the offer. Access to this information was hindered and the information itself could be unclear to users. From consumers’ perspective, this data allows them to establish their rights and check – for example – whom they should approach in the case of complaints or payment-related problems.

“A properly implemented information obligation involves more extensive protection of consumers using e-commerce. E-commerce platform users should be able to find information relevant to the agreement being concluded without having to search several tabs and wonder what the message addressed to them means,” said Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

The President of the Consumer Protection Authority required the company to change the place where messages and notifications are published on the website and change their contents, so that users are able to more intuitively find and navigate to them from the home page. Now the company directly specifies that the presented offers originate from businesses who are a party to the agreement and are responsible for its performance, whereas the platform remains responsible for the functionality of the Travelist.pl website, including the ability to book reservations, make payments and post opinions on the website. 

Furthermore, consumers who lodged a complaint concerning failure by Travelist to fulfil the aforementioned information obligations have been granted PLN 50 by the company, to be spent on the Travelist.pl website. Platform users who have not yet lodged a complaint may do so within 30 days from the moment when the company individually informs them about the decision issued by the President of UOKiK.

These are not the only actions taken by the President of the Competition Protection Authority in regard to compliance with the information obligation arising from the Omnibus Directive. Following the intervention by UOKiK, a large number of businesses have changed their actions or declared that they would introduce some modifications. This includes the providers of such platforms as: Glovo, Uber Eats, Pyszne.pl, Wolt, Bolt Food, Aliexpress, Wakacje.pl, FREE NOW, Uber, Bolt, Facebook, Morele.net, Empik, Triverna.pl, Amazon, and Allegro. The President of UOKiK is also conducting two proceedings where charges have been brought against businesses – i.e. Zalando and Booking.