Parliament speaker signs bill safeguarding Ukrainians against unethical debt collection practices

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's Parliament, Dmytro Razumkov has signed a bill safeguarding Ukrainian citizens against unethical debt collection practices.

Read alsoLawmakers want to introduce ethics rules for debt collectors in UkraineThat is according to a statement published on the Rada website on March 25.

In particular, this refers to bill No. 4241 to amend certain legislative acts to introduce the so-called code of ethics for debt collectors.

The document bans collectors from resorting to illegal actions: threatening, blackmailing, and misleading debtors about the amount of debt, as well as committing acts that infringe on the personal dignity, rights, freedoms, property of a debtor and his/her relatives.

The bill also stipulates the need for lenders to enter into contracts for collection services only with legal entities included in the relevant register of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), which will strengthen the legal protection of debtors and collectors' responsibility for violating the law.

The draft law was sent to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for signing.

Background

• On March 19, the Verkhovna Rada passed a bill to amend certain legislative acts to introduce the so-called code of ethics for debt collectors.
• The bill streamlines pretrial debt collection practices, as well as introducing a number of ethics rules for debt collectors.