• Whenever an undertaking wishes to contact the consumer in order to present its offer by telephone, it needs to obtain the consent of the consumer for contacting him for such purposes before making the initial call.
• The President of the UOKiK initiated proceedings against Netia.
• These proceedings are intended to verify whether Netia had obtained the prior consent of consumers to whom it later presented its offer for the conclusion of a contract.

In September, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection initiated proceedings against Netia. Based on both consumer complaints and the analysis of sales calls, one may conclude that Netia may have been presenting its offer by telephone to persons who had not expressed their consent for being contacted for such purposes, with the company using databases obtained from third parties in order to reach potential customers. In many cases, the company makes an attempt to persuade the consumer to grant their consent during the initial sales call.
A fragment of the conversation between a consumer and a Netia employee is presented below:

Netia: Hello! Good morning! My name is [incomprehensible] Ilona and I’m contacting you on behalf of Netia. I would like to speak to Ms Jowita.

Consumer: Speaking.

N: Hello, Ms Jowita! I am contacting you because our company is now offering a number of new services. I have prepared various discounts and cash bonuses for you. May I take up a few minutes of your time and present the offer...?

According to the provisions of telecommunication law (Article 172), whenever an undertaking intends to present its offer by telephone, it needs to obtain the consent of the consumer for direct marketing purposes before making the first call.

The proceedings conducted against Netia may result in a finding that the company applied practices that violate collective consumer interests; the company may also face a fine in the maximum amount equivalent to 10% of its turnover. An order to remedy the consequences of the infringement may also be made.

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office 
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Phone: 695 902 088
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl

Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL