On 27 September 2019, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) issued a decision to initiate proceedings against Alior Bank for recognizing the provisions of a contract template as abusive (ref. no. RPZ.611.4.2019.PG) pertaining to 11 clauses (the so-called modification clauses) included in the contract templates used by Alior Bank on the basis of which Alior Bank made unilateral changes to the contracts concluded with consumers. The UOKiK President challenged the wording of the provisions in question as, among other things, vague and not allowing consumers to verify the occurrence of the prerequisites for the change being made. Alior Bank was in correspondence with the UOKiK President on the matter and submitted a plan to remove the ongoing effects of the violation from its contracts with clients. If the plan is accepted by the UOKiK President, it will be possible to conduct further discussions on the adjustment of the challenged modification clauses to the UOKiK President’s expectations.
As of 31 December 2022, the PZU Group has not identified reasons to establish provisions for the above case.
UOKiK is conducting an investigation (mark: RWR.405.4.2021.ET) in order to preliminarily determine whether Alior Bank’s actions taken after clients report unauthorized payment transactions, as referred to in the Payment Services Act of 19 January 2011, may justify the initiation of proceedings for practices that violate the collective interests of consumers or proceedings for recognition of the provisions of the model contract as prohibited. These proceedings are conducted „in the case.” Alior Bank is not a party to these proceedings, but it has provided the documents and information requested by UOKiK. As of the date of signing the consolidated financial statements, Alior Bank had not received correspondence from UOKiK in which the authority expressed reservations against Alior Bank in connection with the practice. UOKiK announced in communications that it had initiated proceedings for practices violating the collective interests of clients against 9 other banks whose practices were verified in investigations analogous to those conducted against Alior Bank. Since Alior Bank has a similar practice to the one challenged in the case of these 9 banks, it is expected that Alior Bank will also receive a decision to initiate proceedings for practices that violate the collective interests of clients. At this point, it is not possible to estimate the effects of potential proceedings on Alior Bank, in particular, what would be UOKiK’s expectation that Alior Bank would remove the effects of the violation, and whether a fine would be imposed on Alior Bank. In order to make such an estimate, it would be necessary to read the reasons for the decision to initiate proceedings. In addition, UOKiK”s allegations raise questions throughout the banking sector about their compliance with European law. The provisions of the Payment Services Act cited by UOKiK in the context of these allegations do not fully reflect the Directive they implement. This has resulted in numerous appeals to UOKiK from the Polish Bank Association, as well as the introduction by the Ministry of Finance of a proposal to bring these provisions into line with the Directive indicated in the draft amendment to the Payment Services Act. In Alior Bank’s opinion, the amounts resulting from those reported so far, in the event of a negative stance by UOKiK, will be recoverable through the courts. Alior Bank has established a provision of PLN 2 million for the remainder as of 31 December 2022.