Description

Issued ruling in UOKiK proceedings against PayPal's over alleged illegal contractual clauses

On 15 July 2024, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) issued a ruling regarding PayPal's alleged use of illegal contractual clauses. The UOKiK determined that PayPal employed prohibited clauses and subsequently banned them, also imposing a fine of PLN 106.6 million. The President of UOKiK investigated clauses in the "PayPal User Agreement," particularly clauses listing 34 prohibited activities for users and an associated catalogue of potential sanctions. Among the clauses were those that penalised users merely for attempting to access a blocked account. The UOKiK stated that the vague and open-ended nature of the sanctions, which were not tied to specific violations, allowed the company to make arbitrary decisions. Additionally, PayPal could impose multiple sanctions on a single consumer simultaneously, such as a fine of USD 2'500 or more, account closure without notice, and denial of future services. The UOKiK stated that these terms and conditions could result in consumers being unaware of what actions might be deemed prohibited by the company and unable to predict the sanctions that might be imposed on them.

Original source

Scope

Policy Area
Competition
Policy Instrument
Unilateral conduct regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
digital payment provider (incl. cryptocurrencies)
Implementation Level
national
Government Branch
executive
Government Body
consumer protection authority

Complete timeline of this policy change

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2021-12-15
under deliberation

On 15 December 2021, the President of the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOK…

2022-11-23
under deliberation

On 23 November 2022, the President of the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOK…

2024-07-15
in force

On 15 July 2024, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) issued a ruling regardin…

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