Romanian Bks To Keep Fees Unchanged Until Contract Termination – Draft Act

Secretary of state Dan Vlaicu, head of the consumer protection authority, said lenders must also compute interests in a transparent manner and that they are not to introduce additional fees once the contract is signed.

 

Vlaicu said ANPC received some 1,300 complaints regarding unfair fees introduced by banks without notifying clients.

 

The new act aimed to protect bank clients will most likely be enforced as of January 1, 2009, Vlaicu said.

 

Early July, ANPC announced it considered a draft law aimed to protect beneficiaries of financial and banking services, after several check-ups at banking institutions revealed irregularities concerning the client-bank relationship.

 

Vlaicu said at the time that ANPC inspectors checked some 20 banks in capital city Bucharest and neighboring county Ilfov and fined 14 of them for breaching consumers’ rights.

 

The 14 lenders that received fines were Banca Romaneasca, Banca Comerciala Romana, or BCR, ABN AMRO Bank, Volksbank, Credit Europe Bank, Unicredit Tiriac Bank, Piraeus Bank, Raiffesen Bank, BRD-Groupe Societe Generale SA, CEC SA, Bancpost SA, OTP Bank Romania SA, Libra Bank and Carpatica.

 

He said the irregularities concerning the relationship between the bank and the customer included additional fees introduced by the lender after the contract was signed, disproportional tariffs, unilateral modification of interests and fees without prior notification of the client, disrespectful behavior toward clients, abusive contract clauses, etc.