Otodom Subject to Pricing Probe as Authorities Investigate New Fee Structure

Poland's competition and consumer protection watchdog (UOKiK) is currently investigating the market-leading property portal Otodom for a new fee structure introduced for agents advertising on its platform.

Under the new pricing structure, agents in Poland are charged based on their average portfolio value in the previous six months. This replaced a system that gave agents autonomy on which listings to promote, which had a knock-on effect on visibility for listings and a more manual workload. The new fee structure follows on from sweeping price increases introduced in 2025, which saw advertising costs rise by up to 40% for more than seven thousand agents nationwide.

UOKiK has initiated explanatory proceedings regarding changes to the operating rules of the Otodom classifieds website, concerning transparency over new rules for calculating how it charges fees for classified ads, rolled out earlier this year. No action has been taken against the portal. However, should Otodom be seen to be in breach of competition law, the case could be escalated to a full antitrust inquiry. Abuse of a dominant position is punishable by a fine of up to 10% of the company's annual turnover.

UOKik said:

Changes to the Otodom website's regulations include the introduction of a new billing model. This model will be based on determining fees for posting ads, among other things, based on the value of all properties offered by a given user during a specified billing period. Therefore, the fees will vary for individual entities and will also depend on local market prices and their specific characteristics, which advertisers have no control over.

Tomasz Chróstny, President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, added:

"We have decided to check whether the new rules violate competition law . We are verifying whether the owner of the Otodom website holds a dominant position [in excess of 40% market share], meaning whether it can operate to a significant degree independently of competitors, contractors, and consumers. We will check whether the new rules may result in a restriction of competition in the market, including between intermediaries."

Otodom is owned by OLX.