Complaints about quick loans are multiplying, reminders for citizens must not be charged
The consumer organization is in communication with the Ministry of Finance and, if necessary, will initiate court proceedings to ban this kind of activity, says the president, Marijana Lonchar Velkova.
By the middle of next year, Macedonia should pass the Law on Representative Lawsuits, and this, according to Marijana Loncar Velkova, president of the Consumers' Organization, means that the new EU directive concerning the collective protection of the rights of consumers. In the summer, OPM became an authorized body for representing the collective interests of consumers, but according to the old directive from 2009, which was inserted into the current Consumer Protection Law.
- We expect that a change will be made to the Law on Litigation Procedure and after it passes in the Parliament, we will get the opportunity to initiate collective lawsuits for the compensation of consumers when their rights are massively damaged by service providers, such as banks, savings banks, financial companies and the like - announced Loncar Velkova.
She points to the procedure that OPM initiated in the case of the increase in the price of auto insurance.
- We considered that the case of the insurance companies that increased the prices for mandatory auto insurance is one of the opportunities to get involved. We sent a request to the Supervision Agency, we collected data, people supported us, we opened a platform where applications are made and now the procedure is underway. We also detected that financial companies give warnings about fast loans, which they charge, which is contrary to Article 36 of the Consumer Protection Law. We are in communication with the Ministry of Finance and, if necessary, we will also initiate court proceedings to ban this kind of action - points out the president of OPM.
OPM has already developed a digital platform, which is available on their website, where consumers can write a complaint about problems related to financial services, whether it is insurance, banking, loans, finance companies, leasing...
- If we fail to solve the problem with the banks and savings banks, we contact the NBRSM, and if it is a financial company, then the Ministry of Finance is responsible. If it is about insurance companies, then the Insurance Supervision Agency is responsible. The court procedure is the last step - OPM points out for "Sloboden Pechat". The project, for which financial support was received from the European Union and the European Organization for Consumer Protection - BEUC, has been implemented since December 2023.
