The Court of Competition and Consumer Protection confirmed that Biedronka misled consumers and shared the assessment of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection regarding the intentional nature of the violations, reducing the fine to almost PLN 84 million - the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection reported on Tuesday.
The Office's announcement recalled that in December 2025, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection issued a decision regarding misleading consumers during Biedronka promotions and imposed a fine of nearly PLN 105 million on Jeronimo Martins Polska. The case concerned the promise of a 100% refund. the value of purchased products into vouchers, which could only be used under certain conditions, unknown during the purchase. The company appealed against the decision.
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection pointed out that this is another decision of the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection confirming the decisions of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection towards Jeronimo Martins Polska. Earlier, the court of first instance upheld the decisions regarding the practice of using contractual advantage, awarding a fine of PLN 506 million, as well as irregularities related to the so-called anti-inflation shield, awarding a fine of PLN 160 million. The decisions are awaiting verification by the court of second instance, explained the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.
He also informed that the case of discrepancies between prices on shelves and at checkouts and incorrect labeling of the country of origin of vegetables and fruit, in which the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection won against the company, had been legally resolved. The company paid fines of PLN 115 million and PLN 60 million, respectively.
The Office noted that this was not the first time that the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection drew attention to Biedronka's method of informing about promotions. The Office has repeatedly indicated to the company that the benefits and limitations of offers should be presented equally clearly. The company was also the addressee of two binding decisions regarding the communication of promotion rules, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection reported.
The announcement added that the evidence also shows that when preparing the "Valentine's Day Wednesday" advertisement, Jeronimo Martins Polska consciously refrained from providing information on what products the voucher can be used for and how much you have to spend on subsequent purchases. This, as well as other circumstances indicated in the decision of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, confirm the intentional nature of the violation - added the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.
The judgment of the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection is not final and the company may appeal against it to the Court of Appeal in Warsaw. The Office noted that the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection also intends to file an appeal regarding the reduction of the fine. The Office maintains the position that the originally imposed sanction was adequate to the nature and gravity of the identified violations, it added.
"We consider the fact that our arguments were heard and taken into account by an independent court, which changed the original decision issued by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, as a step in the right direction. We will carefully analyze the written justification of the judgment as soon as we receive it, and we reserve the decision on possible further steps in this matter for later. We assure all Biedronka customers that we will continue to offer them the most competitive promotional offer on the Polish market," the office told the Polish Press Agency Biedronka press releases.
