Unfair commercial practice

What it means

An unfair commercial practice is conduct by a trader towards consumers that is contrary to professional diligence and materially distorts their decisions. The consumer protection law distinguishes two main types: misleading practices, which deceive, and aggressive practices, which restrict freedom of choice through pressure.

Misleading practices include fake discounts from a price never actually charged, invented or bought reviews, omitting material information, hidden fees, false claims that an offer is available only for a limited time, or unsubstantiated environmental claims, known as greenwashing. Aggressive practices include persistent unsolicited phone pressure or exploiting a customer’s distress.

The law also contains a blacklist of practices that are always prohibited regardless of their specific effect. It includes, for example, advertising a product as “free” when it must be paid for, or claiming a product is available only briefly when that is untrue.

How it works in practice

Supervision lies with the Slovak Trade Inspection, which can impose fines, considerably higher for repeat breaches. Since the Omnibus Directive, fines for widespread cross-border infringements can also be based on turnover. Online stores are a frequent target of inspections.

When reviewing clients’ marketing we recommend checking above all discounts and price comparisons, reviews and how they are verified, claims about product properties, subscription and cancellation terms, and sustainability claims. Every claim should be backed by evidence.

An unfair commercial practice should be distinguished from unfair competition, which concerns relations between competitors and is pursued by private action. The same conduct, such as misleading advertising, can be both an unfair practice towards consumers and unfair competition against rivals.

What to watch out for

The most common breach in e-commerce is fake discounts: a crossed-out price at which the goods were never sold, or a discount calculated from a price raised just before the promotion. Under the rules on price reductions, the reference price must be based on the lowest price of the last 30 days.

Watch dynamic pricing and personalisation too. If customers do not know a price is personalised, or an algorithm exploits their vulnerability, it may be an unfair practice. With automated pricing, information duties must be borne in mind.