The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) imposed a fine of over PLN 3 million on Neuca due to excessive delays in providing cash benefits to contractors, the Office reported. This has been the highest penalty in anti-embolism procedures so far.
The President of the Office also issued five decisions in which he refrained from imposing a fine on entrepreneurs.
“The proceedings regarding excessive delay with payment of cash benefits confirmed that the practice of Neuca was to delay the payment of remuneration to its contractors,” said Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.
The amount of the financial sanction, due to the applicable formula, reflects the scale of the payment clog in the economy generated by the company, which exceeded PLN 1 billion in the analyzed period. Pursuant to the regulations, the amount of the administrative penalty is calculated according to the formula and, apart from the amount of the unpaid cash benefit, also depends on the statutory interest rates applicable at the time of the decision for delays in commercial transactions and the length of the delay itself. The intervention of the President of the Office in cases related to payment backlogs is possible if the total value of all unfulfilled or late payments by the entrepreneur for the benefit of his contractors exceeds PLN 2 million within 3 consecutive months.
“The actions of Neuca SA are reprehensible as they concern a pharmaceutical company that did not suffer during the pandemic and the health of many Poles depends on the efficient functioning of which. it settles its obligations on time and finances its own activity at the expense of other entrepreneurs,” added Chróstny.
The investigation carried out showed that there was no reasonable justification for the late payment. The company’s explanations, pointing to the difficult situation and the lack of receiving payments from its contractors, were not confirmed in the collected evidence.
In addition, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection stated that five entrepreneurs were excessively late with the fulfillment of cash benefits:
Anwim from Warsaw – a company dealing in fuel wholesale,
Zakłady Mięsne Skiba from Chojnice – a company from the meat processing industry,
Amica from Wronki – producer of household appliances,
Oninnen from Warsaw – dealing in wholesale,
Altrad-Mostostal from Siedlce – operating in the construction industry.
The President of UOKiK refrained from imposing an administrative fine against these companies. The current wording of the anti-embolism law in force obliges the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection to refrain from imposing a penalty in a situation where the total amount of cash benefits not received and received after the deadline by these companies is higher than the congestion generated by them, is over.
Source: UOKiK and ISBnews
