Amendment to the Sanctions Act
12 February 2025
Download the alert in pdf On 26 February 2025, the provisions of the amended Polish Sanctions Act1 and the Act on the National Revenue Administration2, among others, will come into force. The ...
3 January 2023
On 1 January 2023, amendments to consumer protection regulations related to the implementation of the Digital Content Directive, the Sale of Goods Directive and the Omnibus Directive into the Polish legal system came into force. These directives were implemented by: (i) the Act amending the Consumer Rights Act and certain other acts of 1 December 2022 (Journal of Laws 2022, item 2581); and (ii) the Act amending the Consumer Rights Act, the Civil Code and the Private International Law Act of 4 November 2022 (Journal of Laws 2022, item 2337).
In essence, these amendments:
Below are the most relevant changes that came into force on 1 January 2023.
New information obligations:
Traders have additional information obligations, including in particular the obligation to inform their consumers about:
In addition, providers of online trading platforms have to inform consumers about:
Statutory warranty
One of the most significant amendments concerns a consumer’s statutory warranty. Regulations in this area were transferred from the Civil Code to the Consumer Rights Act and clarified. The general warranty regulations, however, which apply to all of the situations not covered by the provisions of the Consumer Rights Act, remain in the Civil Code. The most significant changes include:
The hierarchy of consumer rights in the cases of the non-conformity of goods with a contract has been clarified. In the first place, a consumer has the right to require that the relevant goods be brought back into conformity with the relevant contract by repair or replacement. Only upon lack of fulfilment or unprofitability of such demand can the relevant consumer exercise his or her further rights, i.e. to demand a price reduction or to withdraw from the relevant contract. The above mentioned hierarchy of consumer rights, however, is not rigid, and the provisions are flexible enough to take into account possible situations in which a price reduction or withdrawal from a relevant agreement can be demanded immediately.
Digital content and digital services
The offering of digital content and digital services is regulated extensively and separately from the offering of goods, including the relevant information obligations of the trader, warranty rules, and the time of delivery of content and services.
These regulations are largely similar to those covering the provision of goods and services, taking into account the specificities of digital content and digital services, including:
New categories of unfair commercial practices
The Black List of Unfair Commercial Practices in the Act on Combating Unfair Commercial Practices of 23 August 2007 currently includes practices consisting of the following:
Contracts concluded during a trip, a product demonstration (party plan events) or an unsolicited visit by a trader to a consumer’s home or habitual residence
The new provisions strengthen the protection of consumers entering into contracts in the above situations through:
12 February 2025
Download the alert in pdf On 26 February 2025, the provisions of the amended Polish Sanctions Act1 and the Act on the National Revenue Administration2, among others, will come into force. The ...
4 November 2024
The time has come to use plain language in banks' communications with customers. To date, despite the lack of a statutory obligation, some banks have already begun implementing accessible language and...
13 September 2024
The amendment to the National Cybersecurity System Act, which implements the NIS2 Directive in Polish law, means significant changes are ahead for many entities from different sectors of the economy. ...