BCR, second bank to get fine from Cluj county Consumer Protection office on Ordinance 50

The Cluj county Consumer Protection has applied a RON 100,000 (around EUR 23,000) fine to BCR and has asked for the suspension of lending after the bank has included the risk commission in the administration commission, although this has been forbidden by the Ordinance 50/2010. Over 80 people have filed complaints against the bank for doing so. This is the second such fine applied to a bank in Romania. Volksbank has received a similar fine in November, also from the Cluj County Consumer Protection office. Over 1,000 Volksbank Romania clients have asked the court for their bank loan installments to be discontinued while they are on trial hoping to eliminate the allegedly abusive clauses in their loan contracts. The Government Emergency Ordinance 50/2010 entails a more transparent bank interest calculation, linking the final interest to ROBOR or EURIBOR interbank rates, canceling the risk fee and, in case of loans with variable interest, canceling the reimbursement fee altogether. Consumers had expected a lowering of the interest rate – and consequently of their monthly installment, hoping banks would replace their internal interest rate with ROBOR/EURIBOR, while keeping the fixed margin at the same level. Banks have however kept the same interest level and changed the way it was calculated, which triggered the consumers’ discontent. Groups of unhappy customers have already started lawsuits against banks like BCR and Volksbank on this issue, while banks lobbied for the ordinance to be changed. editor@romania-insider.com