Putin signed a law on the indefinite right of Russians to credit holidays

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law granting a permanent right for Russians to receive credit holidays. Document published on the official Internet portal of legal information.

According to the document, the borrower has the right to demand from the lender a grace period for up to six months. The law sets limits on loans: for credit cards – no more than 150,000 rubles, for car loans – up to 1.6 million rubles, for other consumer loans – 450,000 rubles. The borrower will be able to receive a loan holiday in the event of a reduction in income by more than 30% or an emergency.

The law will come into force on January 1, 2024.

The credit holiday regime was temporarily introduced during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Then the mechanism was resumed against the backdrop of sanctions in 2022 and 2023.

In the summer of 2022, the Central Bank made a proposal to grant the right to a grace period for citizens. Then the head of the service for consumer protection and ensuring the availability of financial services of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Mamut, said that from a “social point of view, the measure is very effective and in demand.” However, the idea of ​​an indefinite mechanism of credit holidays for consumer loans was discussed at the Bank of Russia back in the summer of 2021.