Banks which continue to charge a loan application fee calculated as a percentage of the borrowed amount despite being bound by law to charge a fixed fee as early as three weeks back, are liable to a fine of between 20,000 and 100,000 RON and could be forced to pay back the amounts collected during the interval to their customers.
The National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC), the
institution that initiated the famous Ordinance 50 on making costs
of individuals’ loans transparent, based on which the law which
entered into force at the beginning of the year was drawn up, is
preparing checks into banks that still display the old cost
structure.
“We have noticed that some banks don’t observe the provisions of
the law and we will look into this. We have scheduled checks over
the coming days and if we find instances of non-compliance with the
law, the banks will be penalised,” Constantin Cerbulescu, chairman
of ANPC told ZF.
Law 288/2010 on loans for individuals entered into force on January
2nd 2011 after being published in the Official Gazette at the end
of last year. The fine provided for by the law for non-compliance
with provisions on loan fees ranges between 20,000 and 100,000
RON.