MOSCOW, September 24 This year, Russians began to more often complain to the Bank of Russia about credit institutions due to the imposition of additional services when applying for a loan, but mostly these complaints are related to agreements concluded a year ago or earlier, the press service of the Central Bank reported.
«»This year, the Bank of Russia has noted an increase in complaints about the imposition of additional services when applying for a loan. However, mostly people complain about the inability to return funds for an imposed additional service on a loan agreement concluded a year ago or earlier (more than 60% of complaints about the imposition of additional services on a loan ),» the message said.
As for the contracts concluded this year, the Central Bank has not observed an increase in complaints regarding them, despite the recovery and significant growth in lending.
The regulator noted that the most common type of additional services is an offer to purchase various additional insurances for a loan or loan, as well as, for example, a subscription to an online movie theater, consulting services of a psychologist, astrologer or veterinarian on a subscription basis, legal services, telemedicine consultations, etc. Further. As a result, there may be a significant overpayment.
“If the borrower really needs such a service, he can purchase it, but this must be a conscious choice, not under pressure from the manager and not through tricks on the lender’s website or mobile application,” the regulator noted.
The Bank of Russia reminded that the country has laws on an end-to-end “cooling-off period”, during which one can refuse such services and return money, on the prohibition of pre-established customer consents (the so-called “checkmark” ban), as well as other rules limiting the possibility of manipulation and increasing the borrower’s level of awareness of their rights.
In addition, a new law will come into force in January 2024, which increases the “cooling off period” from 14 to 30 days and obliges the lender to inform borrowers about the additional services they have purchased and the opportunity to refuse them. The law also requires that payments for additional services related to the loan be included in the full cost of the loan, which should help the borrower evaluate the cost of borrowed money and make an informed decision about purchasing additional services.