Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court supported the ruling of Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor (the consumer rights watchdog). The division insisted that Uraltransbank face administrative liability.

It is believed that the bank’s repair and construction agreements contained some terms that infringed upon the consumers’ legal rights, so the bank therefore violated the consumer rights protection laws. For one, when a customer takes out a loan needed for these repairs and construction, the bank makes them pay an incidental commission for the management of the loan and a monthly commission prior to getting the loan itself. What is more, a customer must open a bank account in order to receive a loan. Then, the bank reserves the right to change the loan interest rate at any given moment. Finally, all the possible conflicts can only be resolved in the court located within the same district as the bank’s outlet where the problem arose.

After all these violations had been detected, Uraltransbank was made to pay a fine and ordered to stop infringing on its consumers’ rights. In fact, the bank has already taken all the necessary measures and is bringing its agreements in compliance with the law.

Rospotrebnadzor keeps reminding all the customers that no additional agreements need to be signed regarding the invalidity of a bank agreement or changes in it. The bank mustn’t insist on the signing of these supplementary contracts. As far as the other terms and responsibilities of the loan contract are concerned, they are still valid.

‘The customers of a company that has violated their rights can now sue it for damage caused by the enforcement of illegitimate agreement terms,’ Rospotrebnadzor explains.