Deputies propose to increase fines for imposing services to clients several times
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The deputies propose to increase the fines for imposing services on clients up to two or three times their cost. The problem is especially urgent for the banking market. According to market participants, financial organizations will become more careful in selling additional services, and in case of complaints they will prefer to return the money in order to avoid fines. However, lawyers warn that it will not be easy to prove the imposition of services. Experts consider it more effective to increase the period during which the client can refuse additional services.
The State Duma adopted in the first reading bill, which increases the responsibility of sellers for imposing additional paid goods and services, as well as for refusing to return money or avoiding consideration of a complaint. It is proposed instead of the current fines of 2 thousand rubles. for officials and 20 thousand rubles. for legal entities, to determine an administrative fine in the amount of two and three times the cost of an additionally imposed product or service, respectively. For unjustified refusal or evasion of consideration of consumer claims, it is proposed to introduce a fine for officials of 30-50 thousand rubles, and for legal entities – 0.25-1 million rubles.
It is not the first year that the Central Bank has been fighting with varying success against misselling – the imposition of services. Back in spring, at a meeting with bankers organized by the Association of Banks of Russia (ADB), the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, drew attention to the growth of misselling at the beginning of the year (see “Kommersant” dated March 2).
Elvira Nabuillina, head of the Central Bank, on the activation of unfair practices at a meeting with bankers on March 2, 2023:
“We would hate to run around the market with a club.”
According to Galaktion Kuchava, the head of the regional block of the “For the Rights of Borrowers” project of the “People’s Front”, the regulator’s soft appeals to the market do not bring the desired result, and misselling continues to be a serious source of income that helps compensate for the Central Bank’s restrictions and losses due to economic shocks. The practice of human rights activists in recent years has shown “a steady increase in the number of consumer complaints about imposition practices in banks, in the insurance and microfinance markets,” he notes.
According to the Bank of Russia, in 2022 the number of complaints received by the regulator regarding misselling reached 5.8 thousand. In the first quarter of 2023, their number amounted to 1.1 thousand, an increase of 3.5% over the year. 51.3% of complaints came from banks, 26.5% from insurance companies.
“The very fact of imposition is not easy to prove, and even when it is confirmed, it is not always possible to prove that this is the policy of a market participant, and not an isolated case of an overly active employee,” notes Mr. Kuchava. According to him, a multiple increase in fines “will make the market think about the profitability of this approach.”
Market participants do not argue with this. According to Andrey Petkov, General Director of IFC Chestnoye Slovo, “unscrupulous creditors will think a hundred times whether to bear such high risks of receiving a fine when it is cheaper to simply return the money to the client.” He adds that now most of the processes for the sale of additional services are carried out online, respectively, the consumer at the time of purchase of the imposed additional service can record the fact of violation of his rights as a consumer (take a screenshot, take a picture).
However, lawyers are not so optimistic. “Despite the fact that the law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” is mainly directed in favor of consumers, it is not easy to prove that the service was imposed,” notes Ilya Prokofiev, deputy chairman of the Moscow Bar Association “Centryurservice”. According to him, by signing the contract, the consumer agrees to all the conditions, so it is “quite difficult” to say that he did not need the service he agreed to. However, the law should help consumers defend their rights, the expert notes.
Other initiatives can help in the fight against misseling.
According to Andrey Yemelin, the head of the National Council for the Financial Market, a bill is currently being negotiated that will “increase the cooling period for all additional goods, works and services sold through lending from 14 to 30 days.”
In his opinion, this time will be enough in the vast majority of cases of misselling to submit an application, cancel the imposed service and return the money. The expert considers this way “much simpler and faster for bank customers compared to administrative proceedings.”
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