Poland - Tourist services - Change in provisions

17.09.2010 - New rules for filing complaints, more consumer protection in the case of organiser’s insolvency and penalties for unfair tour leaders – to name a few changes in the Act on tourist services which enters into force today.

There are over 3,077 tour operators and travel agencies in Poland. The nature of contracts for the provision of tourist services results in a situation when a consumer pays hoping that the service purchased today will meet his or her expectations in the future, and most of all will be performed in accordance with the contract concluded. Previous experiences and practice of the Office show that there can arise various types of violations, therefore rules defining the conditions for the provision of tourist services should ensure for consumers the highest possible degree of safety and security of these services. The amendment to the Act on tourist services entering into force today introduces new rules, which are important for tour operators and consumers alike.

One reason for introducing the new measures was not sufficiently effective system of financial security for customers. Provisions entering into force today require tour operators to guarantee the consumers, in the case of insolvency, a coverage of costs of return from the event to the place of departure, refund of payments for the event in whole or in relevant part, if it was not performed. Until now, regulations have not provided a guarantee to recover all payments by the customer of a bankrupt travel company, allowing for a proportional reduction in reimbursement of payments if the sum of the obligatory bank or insurance guarantee turned out to be inadequate.

Furthermore, the Act determines what a complaint should contain as well as the time allowed for filing it. According to the law entering into force today, a complaint must indicate non-compliance with the contract concluded by the customer and organiser of the tourist event as well as it must clearly define the consumer’s claim. A complaint should be lodged within 30 days after the end of the event. It is a significant change for consumers - so far there has been no clear guidelines concerning the content of a complaint and relevant provisions have not specified the time for its submission.

Read the press release.