The draft Consumer Credit Act prepared by Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) is currently undergoing public consultation. The proposed legislation is intended to implement two EU directives regulating, among other things, lenders’ information obligations, loan advertising, and creditworthiness assessment procedures. The main objective of the bill is to strengthen consumer protection and introduce sanctions for lenders in cases of regulatory breaches. Experts emphasize, however, that the draft still requires refinement and a renewed regulatory impact assessment, particularly in the context of the grey market in the lending sector.
“When it comes to consumer credit, it’s not so much that we need new changes, but rather that we are obliged to introduce them due to the need to implement EU directives. How we do this, however, is a completely different matter. The proposed Consumer Credit Act contains both very good provisions and some that may prove problematic,” says Grzegorz Miś, the District Consumer Ombudsman in Wrocław, speaking to Newseria during the conference ‘The Consumer in a World of New Digital Opportunities’ organized by the Lewiatan Confederation.
Free credit as a sanction
Among other measures, the new law proposes the introduction of a “free credit” sanction, meaning that consumers would not be required to repay interest or fees if a financial institution fails to properly assess their creditworthiness when granting consumer credit. The proposal also allows for proportional sanctions in the case of less serious violations. The aim is to protect consumers from excessive debt and unpredictable costs.
“A positive aspect of this act is the introduction of the free credit sanction if the statutory criteria are not met. From my perspective as a consumer representative, this is a good sanction,” Miś explains.
“Consumers will have a fairly high degree of certainty that they will obtain a favorable court ruling if they were misled when a loan was granted or if the lender failed to meet the statutory requirements. This is meant to discipline businesses.”
He compares this mechanism to existing rules, such as the obligation to respond to complaints within 14 days or to inform consumers of their right to withdraw from distance contracts. Failure to comply results in automatic consequences—either the complaint is deemed accepted or the withdrawal period is extended. “The same logic will apply to the free credit sanction,” he adds.
Broader scope of protection
Under the new rules, regulations would also cover lease or rental agreements that include an obligation or option to purchase the leased item. Interest-free and fee-free loans, as well as overdraft facilities on personal accounts, would also fall under the act. Importantly, the draft proposes removing the current maximum loan amount of PLN 255,550, above which the act does not apply. This would mean that all consumer loans, regardless of value, would be subject to consumer protection rules.
The bill also significantly expands lenders’ obligations. These include stricter requirements for mandatory information in advertising, a ban on advertisements suggesting that credit improves a consumer’s financial situation or substitutes for savings, and an obligation to provide clear explanations to consumers before a contract is concluded.
Additional products and tied sales under scrutiny
“In my view, the biggest challenge in the consumer credit market is additional agreements—things that, colloquially speaking, loan companies ‘push’ into credit agreements to circumvent caps on non-interest costs and make consumers pay much more for services they don’t actually need,” says Miś.
Such additional agreements include various types of credit insurance, insurance against loss of income, subscriptions, and memberships. To address this issue, the draft law introduces a ban on tying credit agreements with non-financial products or services, with the aim of protecting consumers from unnecessary additional costs.
The proposal also includes a clear ban on granting credit following a negative creditworthiness assessment, as well as more precise rules on how creditworthiness should be evaluated.
Risk of expanding the grey market
“What I really miss in this draft law is a regulatory impact assessment showing how many consumers will actually be pushed out of the market,” Miś stresses.
“Consumers won’t stop buying or borrowing money. If they can’t do it on the ‘civilized’ market, they’ll do it on the uncivilized one—and that’s not what we want. Unfortunately, the current draft does not address this risk.”
According to the Federation of Consumers’ report ‘The Financial Situation of Poles: Do We Repay Our Debts?’, 92% of borrowers found themselves in situations where unexpected expenses exceeded their financial capacity. Nearly half (45%) used savings, 31% took out a bank loan or credit, and about 30% borrowed from family or friends. Meanwhile, 11% turned to non-bank lenders.
Data from the Polish Financial Enterprises Association (ZPF) and CRIF show that in October 2025, Poles took out 434,300 non-bank loans with an average value of PLN 4,341. The total value of these obligations reached PLN 1.89 billion, up 2.6% month-on-month. At the same time, lending institutions rejected 79.3% of applications, indicating a policy of responsible lending.
The Federation of Consumers warns that when financing is denied, consumer needs do not disappear. Some individuals turn to family and friends, while others seek help from entities operating outside the regulatory framework overseen by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) and UOKiK—the so-called grey market, the size of which remains unknown.
“As educators, we all agree that consumers without creditworthiness should not take out loans or credit. But life is unpredictable,” says Monika Kosińska-Pyter, President of the Federation of Consumers.
“As a result, some consumers—though we don’t know how many—are pushed into the grey market, where loans are now mainly offered online, through social media and informal groups. They borrow money without legal protection and without access to consumer safeguards.”
Borrowing under pressure and exploitation risks
A qualitative study conducted by the Federation among consumers denied loans by banks and lending institutions revealed that people borrowing in the grey market come from very diverse backgrounds. Decisions to take such loans were often made under strong emotional pressure—stress, shame, desperation, or a sense of having no alternative.
“For example, a mother who struggled for months because she couldn’t provide her child with the same things other kids had, and then faced an unexpected expense like a family funeral. After being denied a formal loan, she turned to an offer found on social media,” Kosińska-Pyter explains.
“The outcome was always the same: the loan had to be repaid with an additional 100% cost. Borrowing PLN 2,000 meant repaying PLN 4,000. Delays incurred penalties of PLN 100 per day, and there were explicit threats of violent debt collection.”
The study also shows that consumers searching for loans in the grey market are vulnerable to scams from fake lenders posing as foreign banks or financial institutions. The speed and simplicity of these offers often give a false sense of security and lead to poorly thought-out decisions.
“If we want to avoid pushing consumers into the grey lending market, lawmakers must take this into account when designing consumer protection systems,” Kosińska-Pyter warns.
“This is not just about legal provisions, but also about integrating financial counseling, social support, education, and information.”
Direction is right, but more work is needed
“In my opinion, the bill prepared by UOKiK still requires further refinement and consultation—both with the business community and consumer protection stakeholders,” concludes Grzegorz Miś.
“The overall direction is quite good, so let’s move forward, but let’s do so in a way that creates truly effective law—one that genuinely protects consumers without depriving them of the ability to borrow money legally and responsibly.”
