In response to the numerous enquiries and issues reported by participants in the telecoms market and discussed inter alia during a meeting with Ms Magdalena Gaj (UKE Chairperson) and Mr Adam Jasser (UOKiK Chairperson) organized by Amcham Digital Economy / Dentons back in July, UKE and UOKiK developed a joint position on the relationship between the Telecommunications Law (the “PT”) and the Consumer Rights Act (the “PK”) that came into force on December 25, 2014. 

The position adopted contains general clarification in terms of the inter-relationship between the PT and the PK, in which the Working Group has stressed that – given that the aforementioned statutory acts do not provide for conflict of laws rules – the provisions of both of them should be applied without breaching the regulations of either the PT or the PK. The above position also directly indicates that the transitional provisions of the PK do not make any distinction between the situation of agreements for continuous performance, and so agreements for the provision of telecommunication services concluded before the PK came into force will still be governed by the previous regulations.

In addition to the general clarification in terms of the inter-relationship between the two statutory acts, the UKE and UOKiK have also offered explanations with respect to detailed issues. To give an example, the UKE and UOKiK presented their views with respect to: agreements made using a courier (these will either be agreements made at a distance or outside the premises of the entrepreneur, if the courier is authorized by the entrepreneur to sign the agreement on its behalf), definition of “durable medium” (the position clarifies conditions which must be met by a given tool for it to constitute a durable medium), conflict of the information requirements stemming from the PK and PT (whilst also indicating that specific information requirements may be complied with by way of providing the consumer with the terms and conditions of the provision of a telecommunication service or a price list), consent to additional payment (the Working Group is of the view that activation of additional services requires a separate express consent), or the procedure for changing the model agreements (due to the fact that the PK does not regulate the issues relating to a change in the model agreements, the provisions of Art. 60a and 61 of the PT apply).

The document is not legally binding but constitutes recommendations and clarifications from regulators, which may prove useful in the application of the law in consumer relations.

The position (in Polish) is available at UKE webpage.