The end of sneaky promotions in discount stores? The minister announces intervention

Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, gave an interview to Radio Zet on Thursday. The interview featured, among others: promotion thread in discount stores. The minister and possible future head of Poland 2050 emphasized that her party is “the only formation that always stands on the side of the buyer and client in the face of large corporations with powerful legal machines and rich lobbies.”

Pełczyńska-Nałęcz about unfair promotions

– People go to stores and there are promotions. Only these promotions are often written in such a way that they mislead people. He is a senior and does not see that the fine print says that the third butter with a discount, if there is a card, either in 2 days or only after 5 p.m. This information is just super fine print – Pełczyńska-Nałęcz said in the online part of the “Guest of Radio Zet” program.

When asked what could be done about it, the minister replied that she was looking into it legally. – We take a legal look at where abuses occur and how they should be resolved, so that a large corporation does not abuse people, so that the free market in Poland is fair – Pełczyńska-Nałęcz explained.

According to the ministry, “legal action can be taken to ensure that promotions do not mislead people.” – What exactly this legal solution is requires a closer look – said the head of the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy.

Gazeta.pl reminds that a month ago the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) informed that it had received signals from consumers regarding irregularities during promotional campaigns of the Biedronka chain. Store customers mainly complained about problems with reading the correct price when purchasing multiple items and providing information on the lowest prices from 30 days before the discounts in an illegible way, including in too small a font. The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection found that the price labels were misleading or illegible to consumers, and therefore charged Jeronimo Martins Polska and its three managers with violating consumers’ basic rights regarding price information. For each of the three charges, a financial penalty of up to 10 percent of turnover may be imposed on the company.