“Purchasing expensive items like household appliances and furniture may become unaffordable”
Many Russians are used to paying for expensive purchases in installments. The client essentially borrowed the required amount, say, for a new TV, but did not apply for a loan or provide passport details. Now deputies have decided to take on the regulation of services that provide such installments. A corresponding bill has been submitted to the State Duma. According to the document, from December 1, 2025, the purchase of goods in installments without entering information into the credit history will be limited to 15 thousand rubles.
How will the law affect ordinary consumers? Will they have to take out a loan at interest or save up for a long time to buy an expensive product? Experts told MK about this.
Artem Deev, head of the analytical department at AMarkets: “It will now be more difficult to buy in installments, since the purchase limit will be limited to 15,000 rubles. Buying expensive goods, such as household appliances or furniture, may become unaffordable. The bill is aimed at protecting consumers from over-indebtedness and excessive financial burden. And, yes, the document has its advantages: the bill can protect Russians from unwise financial decisions and ill-considered purchases. The downside of the bill is that it risks limiting consumers’ choice regarding payment methods and the convenience of buying in installments.”
Andrey Loboda, economist, communications director at BitRiver: “It will be more difficult to buy goods in installments after the adoption of the new law. In fact, installments will be equated to a consumer loan and regulated almost in the same way as a loan. This means that the number of refusals to potential buyers of goods in installments will increase. In turn, retailers, at least large operators in the non-food market, will probably have to worry about creating their own bank with a license from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in their structure. But these will be additional costs that will later be “sewn into” the prices of goods. Such a law is apparently being adopted in the interests of banks and retailers, who cannot help but worry about the increase in the number of overdue payments on installments. In our opinion, in the long term, it is necessary to restore order in this area, so in theory this law is correct. But in practice, it is possible to wait with it and postpone its entry into force until the period when the growth of prices in the Russian Federation slows down, so as not to accelerate inflation once again.”