The State Duma in the first reading approved a bill introducing a self-ban on loans

The State Duma adopted in the first reading bill, according to which bank clients will be able to independently impose a ban on taking loans. According to the authors of the document, the amendments will help reduce the risk of fraud in obtaining loans using stolen personal data. If adopted, the law will come into force on July 1, 2024.

The amendments to the laws “On Credit Histories” and “On Consumer Credit (Loan)” state that clients will be able to establish a ban on concluding credit agreements with them. The amendments will apply to clients of banks and microfinance organizations, but will not apply to vehicle loans and mortgage loans.

Citizens will be able to establish a ban through the government services portal or at the MFC branch (if they have a SNILS). The ban will be fully entered into the credit history within 24 hours from the date of the client’s application. The document also obliges microfinance organizations and banks to request information from credit bureaus about the existence of a prohibition when concluding a loan agreement with a client. If there is a ban, banks are obliged to refuse to issue a loan.

In 2022, the Central Bank obliged banks provide clients with the opportunity to self-prohibit lending and money transfer transactions. In January 2023, the Central Bank prepared a bill that expands this ban to all credit organizations. In April, a bill introducing a self-ban on loans was submitted to the State Duma by the head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, Anatoly Aksakov, as well as deputies Konstantin Bakharev, Anton Gorelkin, Ivan Babich and others.

Read more in the Kommersant article. “Self-restraint was considered too restrictive”.