DRAFT OF THE NEW CONSUMER CREDIT ACT – COMMENTARY BY MACIEJ RACZYŃSKI, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW
At the beginning of July 2025, a draft consumer credit bill was submitted for public consultation, introducing significant changes mainly affecting the operation of lending institutions. If the draft bill enters into force in its current form, these entities will be forced to verify/reorganize all their customer service processes, starting with the method of customer acquisition (new advertising rules described in the draft bill, including, in particular, the now famous requirement to publish the warning “Attention! Lending costs money” or similar), through activities carried out before the conclusion of the contract (in particular, the requirement to assess the customer’s creditworthiness each time, including, in particular, attaching evidence of this assessment to the contract), and ending with the validity of the contract (here, it is worth mentioning the new solution consisting in the statutory regulation of the right to restructure the liability or restrictions on the sale of receivables to third parties). As far as registers are concerned, no major changes are expected in the scope of the registers kept so far. However, the introduction of two new registers promises to be interesting: a register of additional credit activities (maintained by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority) and a register of debt counseling and debt advisory entities (maintained by the Financial Ombudsman). Hundreds of new entrepreneurs will certainly be subject to the registration requirement.
Among the many provisions of the draft law, there is considerable controversy surrounding the linking of free credit sanctions to violations of the obligation to assess a customer’s creditworthiness. The provisions specifying the rules and manner of conducting a creditworthiness assessment are, as is usually the case, general in nature and use only vague wording that can be interpreted in different ways. What does it mean to take into account “in an appropriate manner factors relevant to verifying the ability to repay the total amount payable in accordance with the terms of the credit agreement” or the requirement “on the basis of accurate information about the consumer’s income and expenditure and other information relating to the consumer’s financial and economic situation, to the extent necessary and proportionate to the nature, duration and value of the credit and the risks involved for the consumer“? In legal science, this is referred to as ”ignotum per ignotum,” i.e., explaining something incomprehensible with another incomprehensible term. In this case, if not the intervention of the legislator, then at least that of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority seems necessary.
In summary, I have mixed feelings about the draft law presented by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (the author of the draft). As usual, the aim of these regulations is to increase consumer protection, but in this case I cannot help feeling that we have gone two steps too far (the requirement to include the warning “beware! borrowing costs money” in advertisements is something everyone can judge for themselves…). The proposed regulations will undoubtedly—once again—further privilege customers in their relations with loan companies. These companies will certainly have to review their current risk assessments and operating costs. Undoubtedly, this may also translate into higher costs for loans already granted, and these will be borne by consumers.
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Maciej Raczyński
Legal Advisor | Partner
