The President of the Polish competition authority (UOKiK) has levied a fine of 5,280,388 PLN on InGroup International LLC, previously known as InCruises International LLC. The authority found that the business model of the travel program available on www.incruises.com violated collective consumer interests.

InCruises operates a travel club where members can purchase luxury cruise trips at attractive prices by making monthly payments. However, the program had significant restrictions, allowing members to use only a portion of their accumulated funds for trips based on their duration of participation. If a member stopped making payments, their account would become inactive, and they would lose access to booking trips.

The UOKiK President, Tomasz Chróstny, stated that the program constituted a prohibited consortium system, as it relied on the contributions of existing members to fund new purchases. The business model incentivized recruitment of new members, with existing members benefiting from commissions for bringing in new participants, rather than from the travel services themselves.

The investigation into InGroup's practices began in mid-2022, and during this time, the company altered its operational rules. As of March 2023, partners from Poland and other countries can no longer sell to Polish residents. The decision by UOKiK is not final and can be appealed in court.

Consortium systems, often referred to as Argentine systems, involve pooling consumer funds to finance product purchases for group members. Such practices are considered unfair market practices and are prohibited under Polish law due to their potential for consumer deception.