Aasa Polska fined 4 million PLN for inflating loan costs

The Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has fined the lending company Aasa Polska nearly 4 million PLN for violating consumer interests. The regulator found that the company artificially inflated loan costs to bypass anti-usury laws.

According to UOKiK, Aasa Polska required customers to purchase expensive additional services—such as medical subscriptions, online language courses, legal support, or IT technical packages—as a condition for obtaining a loan or securing specific terms. These services, costing anywhere from several hundred to several thousand PLN, were automatically credited to the loan amount, significantly increasing the total debt.

In one documented case, a customer who borrowed 5,000 PLN found their debt had risen to 7,700 PLN because a 2,700 PLN medical package was added to the capital without explicit consent. UOKiK concluded that these seemingly voluntary packages were actually mandatory mechanisms used to circumvent legal limits on non-interest costs.