Recently, the head of the Competition and Consumer Protection Office (UOKiK) took a closer look at the subscription regulations for the various services available as part of the following packages: Amazon Prime and Amazon Prime Video. In the contracts in place, the two companies: Amazon EU and Amazon Digital UK, among others: used procedures that allowed price changes unilaterally from the new subscription period. According to the Head of the Competition and Consumer Protection Bureau, in such cases, important terms, including the variable service price in the first place, should not be binding on consumers unless they express their informed consent to extend the subscription under the new terms.
– For years, we have been demanding that contractual terms and conditions fairly regulate the obligations of the parties to the contract. In the case of increasingly popular subscription services, consumers trust the service provider and trust their payment card details so that they can regularly access and pay their obligations. This does not mean that from now on, operators can, without their consent, charge higher fees than those to which consumers previously agreed,” said Tomasz Krestny, head of the Competition and Consumer Protection Bureau.
Changes to Prime Video regulations
The platform took into account the objections of the Polish office and informed the Polish subscribers about them. – Due to comments from the Competition and Consumer Bureau regarding the possibility of challenging certain provisions of our Amazon Prime Terms and Conditions and the Amazon Prime Video Terms of Use as being prohibited, we have revised these terms and conditions in cooperation with the Bureau. For consumer customers who signed up for the Amazon Prime program before December 7, 2023, we agree not to enforce, in whole or in part, certain provisions of our current Terms and Conditions., listed below. Your rights remain unaffected. This means that you have the right to act under any provision that gives you any right, Prime Video explains.
Streaming services that want to increase fees must inform customers in advance and obtain their approval. Prime Video waived provisions that would have allowed increases without notice. – Offerings and prices for subscriptions (sometimes called memberships), subscription services, the range of subscription digital content available and the specific titles available through the subscription services may change over time and by location without notice. (Except when required by applicable law). Unless otherwise indicated, any price changes will take effect at the beginning of the next subscription period. Additional Subscription Terms (such as applicable cancellation and refund policies) will be indicated on the Subscription Information pages on the main Service website for your location specified herein (“Video Marketplace”), as described in the terms superseded.
Prime Video cannot compromise on quality
The point that allowed the quality of the displayed content to deteriorate was also abandoned. – If we discover that digital content being streamed to you may be disrupted or play incorrectly due to bandwidth limitations or other factors, It is possible to reduce the resolution and file size of streaming digital content to ensure uninterrupted viewing. While we strive to provide users with a high-quality viewing experience, we make no guarantees as to the accuracy or quality of the digital content you receive during streaming, even if you pay additional fees to access HD, Ultra HD, and HDR content, a canceled tweet said.
The point about the reasons for changes in presentation has also been removed. – We may make changes to these Terms, the Master Service or any part of them at any time: for legal or regulatory reasons; For safety reasons; To improve existing functionality or add new functionality to the Prime Service; To reflect technological improvements; In order to make reasonable technical corrections to the main service and to ensure operational continuity of the main service, the entry said.
Subscription is PLN 49 per year
A subscription to Amazon Prime Video costs PLN 49 per year or PLN 10.99 per month. Currently, the company has not increased subscription fees, although it has decided to make a similar move in other European countries. The platform’s offering includes series, films and programmes. Some content can be watched in 4K quality. Since April, Amazon Prime Video has expanded its offer of additional packages within Prime Video channels in Poland. In May, the platform also offered a video rental service.
Prime Video Channels also offers paid video on demand packages: FilmBox (PLN 19.99 per month, 14-day trial), Dobre bo polskie (PLN 7.99 per month, 7-day trial), Total Movies (PLN 7.99 per month)., 7 days trial), MGM (16.99 PLN, 14 days trial), Stingray Karaoke (10 PLN, 7 days trial), Ello Concerts by Stingray (10 PLN, 7 days trial), OUTtv (10 PLN, 7 days trial Trial) Hayu (PLN 19.99, 7-day trial), Pash (PLN 14.99, 14-day trial), and recently also History Play (PLN 7.99, 14-day trial) and Crime+Investigation Play (7, PLN 99, 14-day trial) Experiment day).
