The Verkhovna Rada supported draft law No. 4241, which is designed to protect debtors from collectors.
People's deputies adopted the document in the first reading, giving 355 votes for it.
The draft law provides certain requirements for creditors, including collection companies, when settling overdue debt:
- comply with the requirements for ethical behavior and the rules of interaction with the debtor;
- to inform the debtor about the involvement of the collection company in the settlement of the overdue debt and/or the assignment of the claim to a new creditor;
- conclude agreements only with legal entities included in the register of collection companies;
- notify the National Bank of Ukraine about the conclusion of the contract with the collection company (within the terms and procedure determined by the National Bank of Ukraine);
- monitor the actions of the involved collection companies and provide recommendations for eliminating violations;
- the obligation to unilaterally terminate the contract with the collection company in case of its exclusion from the Register of collection companies or in case of violation of the requirements for ethical behavior (2 or more times per hour).
The document also proposes to establish requirements for interaction with the consumer (his representative) in the settlement of overdue debt (requirements for ethical behavior), which may occur through:
- direct interaction (personal or telephone conversations);
- sending messages (text, voice and other messages, including without the involvement of employees by using software);
- sending mail sent (to the place of residence or to the place of work).
At the same time, during the first interaction with the consumer, the creditor/collector company must provide the name, full name or index of the representative, the legal basis of the interaction and the amount of overdue debt, and at the request of the consumer - provide supporting documents within 7 working days.
The draft law proposes to empower the National Bank of Ukraine to supervise compliance by banks, other financial institutions and persons who are not financial institutions but have the right to provide separate financial services, as well as collection companies with the legislation on the protection of consumer rights, including requirements for interaction with by consumers when settling overdue debt (required for ethical behavior).
The document defines the following positions for collectors:
- at the stage of drawing up a loan agreement, the borrower must be warned in advance that it can be handed over to collectors for collection;
- the creditor must have a cooperation agreement with the collection company exclusively from the NBU register;
- collector companies openly communicate (on websites, directly at the place of service provision) about the requirements of ethical behavior;
- the collector must notify the borrower about the creditor company, provide documents on cooperation within 10 days upon request;
- keeps records of conversations with the borrower or guarantor for 3 years.
Collectors are prohibited from:
- to cooperate with the borrower until the provision of the corresponding agreement with the creditor;
- interact with third parties who are not parties to the contract;
- require relatives, guarantors, representatives of the borrower to assume obligations;
- calls from 20:00 to 8:00, use a secret number, calls more often 2 times a day;
- give false information about the amount of the debt and the consequences of non-payment;
- to be represented by employees of state bodies;
- use the inscriptions on the envelopes "executive document", "decision on recovery", "notification of eviction".
The document defines sanctions that can be applied to collectors:
- written warning from the regulator (NBU);
- a fine in the amount of 3 to 000 tax-free minimums (6 UAH — 000 UAH);
- temporary ban on activity;
- exclusion from the register of collection companies.
