They decided to give the Russians the right to impose a ban on issuing a loan.

The State Duma unanimously adopted in the first reading a bill that gives Russians the right to impose a ban on issuing loans through the government services portal. Deputies believe that this will limit the opportunities for scammers. But the proposed scheme requires financial literacy from those wishing to establish such a ban, and the presence of a stable Internet. By the second reading, the relevant committee promises to finalize the initiative, taking into account all comments.

The bill was introduced in the spring of 2023 by a group of deputies from SR, LDPR and United Russia. Speaking on their behalf, the head of the Financial Market Committee, Anatoly Aksakov (“SR”), said that the State Duma “is often approached by citizens whose personal data was stolen or taken over as a result of psychological pressure, and loans were taken out in their name.” Another real situation, according to him, is when “relatives use the bank credit cards of their parents or other relatives, often of retirement age, and these relatives, for obvious reasons, do not complain.” In order to reduce the number of such cases, Mr. Aksakov reported, it is proposed to give everyone the opportunity to establish a self-ban on receiving loans – through a single portal of government services, “by pressing a few buttons on the phone.” The ban, he continued, can also be lifted by pressing a few buttons, but at least three days must pass from this moment until the loan is received. Banks and microfinance organizations will be required, when considering an application for a loan, to first contact all credit history bureaus where information about self-prohibition may be stored, and if there is such a prohibition, the operation should not be carried out. “And if, despite the ban, a loan is issued, the bank will not be able to demand a return of the money from the person in whose name it was issued,” the deputy explained. The Central Bank supports the initiative.

Evgeny Bessonov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) considered it wrong that law-abiding citizens themselves would have to take some action to protect themselves from scammers: “maybe law enforcement officers will take care of this, for whom we are allocating 4 trillion. rubles?” he asked. Mr. Aksakov replied that no one is canceling the duties of law enforcement officers, and people only receive “the right to establish self-prohibition and protect themselves from possible risks.”

Elena Drapeko (“SR”) liked the idea – she recalled that in Russia it is already possible to establish a self-ban on real estate transactions without the presence of the owner, and this measure is effective. “But there are categories of citizens who remain capable, but are at risk – gambling addicts, for example, drug addicts… Maybe we can also come up with some protective measures for such categories?” she asked. “There are still shopaholics who go to stores and then grab their heads,” Mr. Aksakov joked…

Alexander Aksenenko (“SR”) asked whether the self-prohibition would apply to overdraft (a short-term loan that allows you to receive the missing amount without approval from the bank). Mr. Aksakov replied that yes, a person who has set a self-ban will not be able to use an overdraft when paying with a card.

Deputies asked whether it would be worthwhile to include the possibility of lifting the ban on issuing a loan in the person’s personal presence, and why it is proposed to submit an application exclusively online, and not by going to the MFC with an application, for example. As for personal presence, Mr. Aksakov believes that “there is no need to force a person to go to the bank and lift the self-ban, especially since such an opportunity is not always available,” but “there are modern technologies.” As for submitting an application to the MFC, this idea, according to the head of the relevant committee, “deserves attention” and can be discussed.

The government’s response to the initiative states that it is supported subject to revision for the second reading. The Cabinet of Ministers, in particular, draws attention to the fact that the statement of self-prohibition in the text of the bill is allowed to be certified with a simple electronic signature, “however, this signature does not meet the criterion of reliability and does not ensure the integrity of the electronic document”: the use of codes and passwords? “will not allow us to reliably establish the identity of the user specified? signatures,” because these codes and passwords can also be obtained by fraudsters.

There are also enough comments in the conclusion of the relevant committee. For example, attention is drawn to the fact that the text of the bill speaks of the right to establish a self-ban either for one type of loans, or for their different categories, in all credit and microfinance organizations or only in some of them, but this “will require citizen has a sufficient level of financial literacy,” and the work of the government services portal for processing applications will become more complicated. Committee members also have doubts about the rule requiring banks or microfinance organizations to request all credit history bureaus to see if there is a self-prohibition on issuing a consumer loan (credit) to a specific applicant. But nothing is said about what to do if different answers come from different bureaus.

Alexey Kurinny (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) suggested that “a normal healthy person does not need self-prohibition, but basically everything is accepted for pensioners.” But Mr. Aksakov did not agree, telling a story about “a relatively young man in the State Duma, a lawyer, who ran into his office and said that he had just transferred money to the scammers.” And another author of the bill, Arkady Svistunov (LDPR), recalled that sometimes personal data is stolen from those who have not reached retirement age, a loan is issued for them, and the victim can find out about the existence of a debt only when collectors appear.

The new rules are scheduled to come into force on July 1, 2024.