Insurance outrage: businesses will be prohibited from imposing additional services
Businesses will be prohibited from imposing additional services. We are talking about automatic insurance when buying air and rail tickets, insurance when providing banking services, utility services, including when they automatically include payment for cable channels, concierge services and so on. The State Duma may adopt such a government bill in the first reading as early as January 28, "Izvestia" found out.
How citizens will be able to refuse imposed services
The State Duma in the spring session may adopt a government bill prohibiting businesses from imposing paid services on the population. It is primarily about insurance when buying air and rail tickets, medical services if a citizen has an MHI policy, when paying for housing and utilities and buying a car. The deputies plan to consider the document in the first reading on January 28, "Izvestia" found out, having familiarized with the work plan of the lower house of parliament.
This information was confirmed in the specialized committee on industry and trade, where it was reported that the initiative of the Cabinet of Ministers has already received positive feedback from the regions. In particular, supportive votes have already been cast by the assemblies of the Nizhny Novgorod and Astrakhan regions, the Komi Republic and Kabardino-Balkaria.
The bill was submitted to the State Duma on December 4. In the explanatory note, which "Izvestia" has, the Cabinet of Ministers says that the solution of the problem of imposing goods (works, services) on consumers for a fee is of great public and social importance, as such actions are often based on manipulation and threats to citizens, who in case of refusal risk to find themselves without the goods they need.
As the government specifies, one of the most widespread unfair practices has become the practice when companies, when selling air and rail tickets via the Internet, knowingly put the consumer's consent to conclude a voluntary insurance contract in the form of a "check mark" confirming the intention to conclude an additional contract (automatic consent).
"Similar problems occurred in consumer lending, the solution to which was reflected in the adoption of amendments to the law "On Consumer Credit (Loan)". Other areas of consumer legal relations do not contain such prohibiting legal norms, which allows to maintain the relevance of the problem of imposing additional goods (works, services)", - stated in the explanatory note.
In addition, the document notes that since 2022, Rospotrebnadzor has observed an increase in the number of citizens' appeals containing complaints about charging the owners of apartment buildings for the provision of services that do not relate to the maintenance and repair of residential premises and utilities. In particular, about such services as "television broadcasting", "property insurance", "concierge", "cable television" and others.
"The Central Bank conceptually supports initiatives aimed at counteracting practices when the sale of one product (goods or services) is conditioned on the sale of another. At the same time, the Bank of Russia has not received the said draft law in its current version. It is important to note that countering the imposition of additional paid services on consumers of financial services is an important priority for the Central Bank," the regulator's press service told Izvestia.
They also noted that since January 21, 2024, the law on the calculation of the full cost of the loan (TCOP) began to operate. It obliged banks to include in the TCOP all the costs of the borrower, which are a condition for obtaining a loan. That is, the TCOP must include all additional payments, which previously remained outside the brackets (insurance, commissions from the sale of other services and so on). In addition, information about the interest rates on a loan or credit, which is presented in offices, on the website or in the mobile application of the lender, should be posted together with data on the range of the PSC.
"This makes the process of selling additional services more transparent and allows consumers to objectively evaluate offers of different banks. The same law gives consumers of financial services the opportunity to refuse within 30 days any additional services, works or goods that were purchased together with the loan, regardless of whether they affect its terms or were formalized by a separate application," the Central Bank said.
As for the automatic marking of the consent of the consumer of financial services with the purchase of additional paid options, today it is more of an exception than a common practice, emphasized the Bank of Russia.
Imposition of services in a hidden form
As "Izvestia" found out, most factions of the State Duma are ready to support the initiative.
- The fight against imposed services is a very important aspect of our lawmaking activity. We have already adopted one law on banking activities. Therefore, this work should be continued, because it is unacceptable to impose services," Sergey Leonov, deputy chairman of the LDPR faction, explained to Izvestia.
Adalbi Shkhagoshev, deputy chairman of the United Russia faction, said that the bill touches on a very sensitive topic for Russians, so the party's deputies will pay great attention to it.
- I think it is right to adopt it. Unfortunately, we are now imposing additional services on citizens, which can become a serious burden on the family budget," Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market, told Izvestia, noting that financial institutions - banks - are also guilty of such practices.
Therefore, he said, it is necessary to protect citizens from such unfair practices.
- Of course, such a bill should be adopted as soon as possible, but I would also introduce penalties for those companies that continue to provide such services. We could even consider introducing criminal liability, because people are deceived and often forced to pay for services they are already entitled to, as in the case of an MHI policy," Nikolai Arefiev, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy from the CPRF faction, told Izvestia.
"Izvestia" sent requests to Rospotrebnadzor, the Cabinet of Ministers to comment on the statistics of citizens' complaints about paid services, as well as to clarify when the new norms may come into force. The editorial board also sent inquiries to Russian Railways, airlines and major banks.
The current law "On Protection of Consumer Rights" already prohibits the imposition of additional goods and services on consumers during certain purchases, and also establishes liability for such violations, but these norms do not stop business, Oleg Pavlov, head of the public council at Rospotrebnadzor, told Izvestia.
- We see that unfair practices are being used, and their scale is growing. The situation has even reached the government, which has developed this bill specifying bans for companies," he explained.
According to him, in the zone of special risk now are consumers who buy goods over the Internet, where the imposition of services occurs in a hidden form, when a person does not remove the "check mark" and has to pay more money. The problem is also relevant for car dealers, who together with the sale of the car also impose additional options, the expert added.
Tatyana Gottsulenko, Director of the Association of Management and Maintenance Organizations in the Housing Sector, admitted in a conversation with Izvestia that the problem of including additional services in the housing accounts of citizens exists. According to her, it exists, for example, in St. Petersburg, where residents get cable TV included in their receipts without their consent on the grounds that the management company has a contract with an organization that provides this service. At the same time, she noted that decisions on the provision of these services are often made at a general meeting of tenants, so it is not quite clear to her how the new mechanism will work.
- Any additional services not prohibited by law, which are offered and accepted by consumers, in one way or another bring profit to companies. If the government tightens regulation in this area, it is necessary to realize that businesses will have to compensate for lost income in one form or another," Artur Gafarov, head of the Institute for the Development of Entrepreneurship and Economics, told Izvestia.
According to him, this will mean that the source of reimbursement of the growing costs of companies instead of additional ones will be basic services. In other words, the cost of the most common services of the population (tickets, insurance, communications, etc.) may increase, the expert admits.
