Polish regulator fines Aasa Polska PLN 3.871 million — RMF24
In Poland, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has imposed a fine of PLN 3.871 million on lending company Aasa Polska. The authority believes that the company violated consumers’ collective interests by artificially inflating the total amount of credit and circumventing the provisions of the Consumer Credit Act. This was reported by RMF24.
Additional services as a loan condition
According to UOKiK, Aasa Polska customers had to purchase expensive additional services at the same time in order to conclude a loan agreement. These included medical subscriptions, online foreign-language courses, legal support packages, and technical IT support. Their cost ranged from several hundred to several thousand zlotys.
The regulator states that purchasing such packages was a condition for granting credit or obtaining it on specific terms. The cost of additional services was automatically included in the loan amount, which, according to the authority, significantly increased its total cost. UOKiK cited consumer complaints: in particular, one customer reported that a medical package worth PLN 2,400 had been added to her loan, while another consumer complained that a package worth PLN 2,700 had been included without his consent.
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Concerns over advertising and APR
UOKiK President Tomasz Chróstny said that Aasa Polska’s practice was a circumvention of anti-usury rules. According to the regulator, the company exceeded statutory limits on non-interest costs and used supposedly voluntary packages to increase the cost of loans.
The authority’s objections also concern the way offers were promoted on the company’s website. The standard offer provided for a smaller loan amount and a higher installment than options with additional packages, which could create the impression that the latter option was more advantageous. In addition, financed costs for such services were included in the total credit amount. According to UOKiK, this misled customers about the relationship between the amount and cost of the loan and also significantly understated the annual percentage rate (RRSO) stated in the contracts.
The UOKiK decision has not yet entered into force, and the company may challenge it in court. The fine must be paid to the Financial Education Fund, administered by Poland’s minister of finance and economy.
