Poland regulator fines Jerónimo Martins 36 million euros for ‘misleading’ adverts
UOKiK said that JM "misled consumers" given "the conditions, benefits and availability" of rules and regulations of a campaign for its Biedronka supermarket chain that it had dubbed anti-inflation.
Poland’s consumer protection regulator has fined the local operations of Portugal-based retail group Jerónimo Martins 160 million zlotys (almost €36 million) for “misleading consumers,” according to a statement from the entity.
The regulator, the UOKiK, said that Jerónimo Martins Polska, which owns an extensive network of stores in the country, “misled consumers” given “the conditions, benefits and availability” of rules and regulations of a campaign for its Biedronka supermarket chain that it had dubbed anti-inflation (‘Tarcza Biedronki antyinflacyjna’ in the original).
According to the regulator, the Jerónimo Martins campaign, which went out between April and June 2022, with the slogan “if you find a product on our list of 150 most frequently bought products at a lower price in another store, we will return the difference” was characterised by “complicated rules, disproportionate benefits and limited availability.”
The UOKiK found that Jerónimo Martins Polska was infringing “the collective interests of consumers.”
In total, the company has been fined more than 160 million zlotys, the regulator said, recalling that this is not the first time that it has been sanctioned in Poland.
The decision is not final, the Polish regulator adds on its website, and may be subject to appeal.
