• Did PayPal violate the collective interests of consumers by unilaterally changing its agreements with consumers and introducing a new fee?
• It is being investigated by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Tomasz Chróstny.
• It is the modification clause under which the company amended the terms and conditions that raises doubts.

In December 2020,  PayPal (Europe), a Luxembourg-based company, made changes to its agreements with users of an online payment service, PayPal. One of the changes was a new fee - for the lack of activity on the account for least 12 months. It amounts to a maximum of PLN 45 per year. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection received several complaints in this regard.

- I have launched an investigation to verify whether PayPayl has violated consumers' collective interests by making changes to the terms and conditions. The content of the modification clause, which was to be the basis for unilateral introduction of changes to the agreements with consumers, including the introduction of an additional fee for the lack of consumer's activity, is also questionable.  The provision of the terms and conditions, however, does not set out specific reasons for making changes to agreements. Meanwhile, according to the case law, blank clauses or clauses that are too general (for example clauses referring to "important reasons") should be considered unacceptable - says Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.

The said modification clause provides that changes can be made by their sole publication and "automatic" approval by the user who will continue using the services of PayPal.

The objective of the investigation is to initially determine whether the actions of the Luxembourg-based company concerning unilateral modifications of the terms and conditions of its agreements with consumers may violate the collective interests of consumers. The modification clause will also be analyzed to determine whether it is not abusive.

Consumer assistance:

Tel. 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
E-mail: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Consumer right advisers – in your town or district

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL