The bill (Reg. No.8242) limits the
rate of penalty in case of late payment of consumer loan. The rate of penalty
shall not exceed 100 per cent of the total debt.
By the subject of legal regulation, the bill refers to the consumer protection and banking law, which in the European Union is regulated by the Directive 2000/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 June 2000 on combating late payment in commercial transactions and Directive 2006/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions.
Thus, the bill supplements clause 11 of the Law "On Consumer Protection" with part twelve, whereby the rate of penalty in case of late payment of consumer loan shall not exceed 100 per cent of the total debt, which complies with Article 3 of the Directive 2000/35/EC "Interest in case of late payment."
Under this Article, Member States shall ensure that (a) interest in accordance with point (d) shall become payable from the day following the date or the end of the period for payment fixed in the contract; (d) the level of interest for late payment ("the statutory rate"), which the debtor is obliged to pay, shall be the sum of the interest rate applied by the European Central Bank to its most recent main refinancing operation carried out before the first calendar day of the half-year in question ("the reference rate"), plus at least seven percentage points ("the margin"), unless otherwise specified in the contract. For a Member State which is not participating in the third stage of economic and monetary union, the reference rate referred to above shall be the equivalent rate set by its national central bank. In both cases, the reference rate in force on the first calendar day of the half-year in question shall apply for the following six months.
Under the Directive, unless the debtor is not responsible for the delay, the creditor shall be entitled to claim reasonable compensation from the debtor for all relevant recovery costs incurred through the latter's late payment. Such recovery costs shall respect the principles of transparency and proportionality as regards the debt in question. Member States may, while respecting the principles referred to above, fix maximum amounts as regards the recovery costs for different levels of debt.