State Duma passed in the first reading the draft on introduction of a "cooling off period" for consumer loans

The State Duma (State Duma) at a meeting on January 15 passed in the first reading a bill on the introduction of a "cooling-off period" between the design and receipt of a consumer loan.

Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said in his Telegram channel that the "cooling off period" is proposed to be established in order to protect citizens from fraudsters. According to the bill, when issuing borrowed funds, financial transactions will not be carried out for four hours for amounts from Br50 thousand to Br200 thousand and 48 hours for amounts over Br200 thousand.

According to Volodin, "cooling time" Russians will be able to use to analyze the need to take a loan, as well as to assess their solvency.

"If the decision to apply to the bank was made under pressure from fraudsters, then during the "cooling off period" citizens will have the opportunity to refuse to receive borrowed funds," he specified.

Volodin noted that it is planned to complete the consideration of the bill by the end of January.

Earlier, on December 26, 2024, Oleg Kalmanovich, chief analyst at Neomarkets, shared that the need for a "cooling period" for consumer loans is to reduce unfair practices. He specified that when suspicious features or additional financial services of banks are revealed, people close to the borrower will also be able to give advice not to rush into the deal and think over the loan agreement once again.

On October 10, Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, told Izvestia that from the beginning of 2025 in Russia will launch a "cooling off period" in lending, and from the middle of the year - a mechanism to notify citizens through the portal "Gosuservices" about the concluded contract for a consumer loan. These measures are aimed at countering fraudsters who persuade people to apply to banks for loans.