Central Bank proposed to enshrine conditions for early loan repayment in law

The Committee for Development of Competition and Protection of Consumer Rights has sent proposals to the Central Bank of Uzbekistan to revise the mechanism for calculating credit payments in favor of borrowers. This was prompted by appeals from citizens who stated that in some financial organizations, the money paid in excess of the scheduled payment does not go towards reducing the principal debt, but rather gets stuck on transit accounts. As a result, the amount of debt is not recalculated, and interest is accrued in the same amount, the press service of the supervisory authority reported.

The committee noted that such clauses are directly stipulated in the contracts of Uzpromstroybank and Hamkorbank, but in practice, the conditions are not always met due to technical difficulties and limited functionality of mobile services. According to the regulator's estimates, this practice violates the law On Protection of Consumer Rights, and failures in banking software should not increase client obligations.

The agency proposed that the Central Bank adjust point 37 of the Regulations on minimum requirements for banks when interacting with consumers to guarantee the write-off of overpayments against the principal debt. It is also proposed to enshrine the procedure for calculations and norms for early loan closure directly in the law On Banks and Banking Activities.