The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Tomasz Chróstny, has initiated 10 proceedings against companies that do not pay their suppliers on time – the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection informed on Monday. Payment arrears are particularly severe for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
“The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Tomasz Chróstny, has initiated 10 proceedings against companies that do not pay their suppliers on time. Earlier, he issued so-called soft notices to them, which aimed to signal the problem and recommended immediate improvement of the payment culture towards contractors,” he reported. Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in Monday's statement.
The Office indicated that the case concerns the following companies: Coca Cola HBC Polska, Delpharm Poznań, DOZ SA Direct sp.k., Emerlog, Mahle Behr Ostrów Wielkopolski, Padma, Przedsiębiorstwo Budowlane GRANIT, Suder & Suder, Teva Pharmaceuticals Polska, Track Tec Koltram.
“It is unacceptable that large companies do not pay on time”
“Late payments from larger contractors disrupt the financial liquidity of SMEs, destabilizing their operational activity, limiting investments and development. Therefore, it is unacceptable for large companies not to pay their smaller contractors on time. All the more so because during the soft speeches we informed entrepreneurs that failure to improve their payment discipline may result in the initiation of proceedings and, consequently, a financial penalty,” indicated Chróstny, quoted in the press release.
Representatives of the office pointed out that the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection will calculate financial penalties for entrepreneurs on the basis of the Act on Counteracting Excessive Delays in Fulfilling Monetary Benefits, amended in 2022.
“It will take into account not only the value of overdue payments and the length of delays, but also the gravity and circumstances of the infringement, actions taken by the entrepreneur on its own initiative to cease the infringement and cooperation with the Office during the proceedings,” the UOKiK said.
We sent requests for positions to the companies mentioned in the UOKiK announcement. However, we did not receive a response at the time of publication.
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