• Black Friday - not only this day do we check in what way entrepreneurs inform us about prices of products and services.
• Every second entrepreneur labels prices incorrectly or does not label them at all. In most cases: they do not specify unit prices, that is, prices per item, kilo or liter.
• We remind you! For unfair price labelling fines of even 10 percent of the turnover may be imposed. Download the report and a list of entrepreneurs.

A consumer has always got the right to comprehensive information about the goods - in particular about their price. The reliable information about it involves, among others, labelling with a unit prices (that is, for example, per 1 liter or kilo) giving you the opportunity to compare similar products. For years, the Trade Inspection Authority has been controlling how entrepreneurs inform not only about prices of products but also about prices of services Poland-wide - says Tomasz Chróstny, President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Inspectors check whether in shops or service-providing facilities consumers are informed about fees in an unambiguous and doubtless way. They compare the conformity of the labelled prices against the prices coded at the checkout, in a reader as well as against the prices published in promotional materials.

More than half of entrepreneurs make mistakes

In H1 2022, the Trade Inspection Authority performed controls of correctness of informing about prices of goods and services at 1637 entrepreneurs. The inspectors checked shops, chain stores, restaurants, petrol stations and car parks, among others.

They identified irregularities at 53 percent of entrepreneurs. Download a detailed list.

Most frequent mistakes made by entrepreneurs

The inspectors verified more than 322 thousand batches of products. 13% of them were incorrectly labelled with price or had no price label at all. In most cases in shops unit prices were missing or there was no price at all. Incorrect computation of a unit price or incorrect price labelling occurred as well. At car parks and petrol stations in most cases price lists were not exposed which would be visible for drivers of vehicles approaching the car park. In service-providing facilities price lists were missing or they contained inappropriate wording, such as, they did not indicate an unambiguous price (the price was quoted in brackets “from... to...” or only its lower limit was quoted “price from....”).On the other hand, in restaurants most frequently identified irregularity was lack of information in the pricelist about the size of the dishes and beverages served.

In addition, the inspectors compared the conformity of the prices on shelves with the prices coded at the checkout in more than 1,200 shops. Irregularities to the detriment of consumers were identified at 83 locations (6.9 percent of the controlled pool). In more than 1,300 locations the Trade Inspection Authority additionally verified the reliability of consumer service, that is: whether for products sold by weight (e.g. cakes) shop assistants deduced the weight of a packaging. Irregularities were detected in 66 cases (4.9 percent of the controlled units).

The inspectors have verified more than 320 thousand product batches. 13% of them had incorrect or missing price labels.

THE IRREGULARITIES IDENTIFIED:

• the information about the product unit price was missing (that is, e.g. per 100 g) or there was no price at all
• part of the prices attached to products did not correspond with the prices coded at the checkout
• shop assistants occasionally failed to deduce the weight of the packaging (when selling products by weight)
• at car parks and fuel stations – price lists were not visible to approaching drivers
• in hotels, service outlets – no catalogues with the price list, incorrect entries in price lists, such as: price “from… to…”
• in restaurants – price lists did not include the information about the size of a dish/ beverage

WHAT HAVE WE VERIFIED?

• Can a customer know the price before purchasing a product/ service? E.g. on a shelf, in a menu or in a catalogue
• Is the unit price stated (e.g. per 100 g, 100 ml of the product)?
• Is the price on a shelf compliant with the one in the checkout, in a reader and in marketing materials (e.g. leaflets)?
• Do shop assistants deduce the weight of packaging for products sold by weight?

Fines for entrepreneurs, there are some repeated offenders

If irregularities have been detected, the unfair entrepreneurs will have fines imposed. In H2 2022, the Trade Inspection Authority issued 739 decisions imposing fines totaling PLN 628,858 for subsequent breach of those obligations arising from the regulations on informing about prices as well as 16 decisions imposing fines on total value of PLN 76,570 for subsequent events of breach of the obligations.

-The results of the controls held for a number of years let us identify the entrepreneurs who despite numerous administrative fines keep on not to fulfill their informational obligations. In such situations we don’t hesitate to impose heavy fines, we remind you that they may be as high as 10% of the turnover - summarises President of UOKiK. An example of such actions is a fine imposed on the owner of the Biedronka chain store of PLN 115 million. Court of Competition and Consumer Protection confirmed that the company had been applying the practices violating collective consumer interests and upheld the fine imposed.

Among the entrepreneurs controlled in H1 2022, there were entities which had been repeatedly breaching laws. In the case of Jeronimo Martins Polska, Aldi, Kaufland Polska Markety, Lidl the Trade Inspection Authority found incorrect price labelling at least for a third time since their first identification of irregularities. We identified the breach in 7 of 12 Aldi stores (58.3 percent), in 10 of 22 Kaufland stores (45.5 percent), in 24 of 58 Biedronka chain stores (41.4 percent) and in 7 of 22 Lidl stores (31.8 percent).

Advice - what each of us can do

In the event of a discrepancy between the price at the checkout and the one of the shelf or in the price list a consumer has a right to demand to be sold the goods or service at a price most favourable for them.

Information about the results of specific audits are available at the Provincial Trade Inspection Authority Offices.

Consumer Support:

Phone: 801 440 220 or +48 22 266 76 76 – consumer helpline
e-mail: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Consumer advocates – in your town or district
Provincial Trade Inspection Authority Offices

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone: 22 55 60 246
Email: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL
You can also follow us on Instagram: @uokikgovpl