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- Debt is inappropriate: banks will be prohibited from transferring loans overdue for more than 60 days to collectors
Debt is inappropriate: banks will be prohibited from transferring loans overdue for more than 60 days to collectors
Banks will be prohibited from transferring debts of Russians overdue for more than 60 days to collectors. Such a bill will be submitted to the State Duma in the near future. The goal of the initiative is to get credit institutions to work with customers when they have just started accumulating debt. At an early stage, this will help borrowers solve the problem with minimal losses, according to the authors of the initiative. The collection business does not agree with such measures, because it believes that the situation in the industry has changed dramatically in recent years. In general, the overdue loans of individuals in Russia this year reached a record 1.5 trillion rubles.
Why do they want to limit the time for debt transfer to collectors
Banks are being offered to ban the transfer of citizens' debts to collectors with a delay of more than 60 days. Such a bill will soon be submitted to the State Duma by Yaroslav Nilov, head of the lower house Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans' Affairs.
According to statistics from the National Association of Professional Collection Agencies (NAPCA), for the second year in a row, the share of citizens' debts not exceeding 50 thousand rubles has been decreasing in Russia, although they still account for 31% of the total, according to an explanatory note to the bill, which is available to Izvestia. At the same time, the volume of delinquencies on larger amounts is growing: the share of loans from 50,000 to 200,000 has increased to 26% over the past year, and from 200,000 to 500,000 to 22%. Loans over 500 thousand, but less than 1 million rubles, account for 12% of all cases, and debtors with debts over 1 million account for another 9%.
"More than half of the country's population pays off from one to three loans at the same time, while over 30% of citizens pay more than 50% of their income on monthly loans. The amount of debt owed by citizens remains high," the document says.
It also states that in Russia there is a widespread practice of transferring overdue debts to third parties — collection agencies. This often leads to a violation of debtors' rights, an increase in social tension and a deterioration in the quality of life of borrowers.
As previously reported by the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP), in the first quarter of 2025, Russians were 10% more likely to complain about illegal actions by debt collectors than in the same period of 2024. In total, 8.5 thousand requests were received in the first three months, and over the past year there were more than 33 thousand such requests. Currently, the law prohibits transferring debts to collectors only for housing and communal services. In other cases, there are no restrictions.
As noted in the draft law, today banks and other credit organizations are not limited in any way in the independent collection of overdue debts within the legal framework. However, for various reasons, it is more profitable for them to sell debts to collectors who do not shy away from any methods that banks cannot afford.
In connection with this draft law, it is proposed to amend the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which will prohibit the transfer of debts to collection agencies if they are overdue for more than 60 days. For shorter periods, up to 60 days, it is proposed to transfer it to collectors only with the consent of the debtor. The State Duma believes that such a measure will exclude the possibility of profit for such organizations on interest for long delays.
— Collectors should be completely banned, but so far no such decision has been made, although there are certain strictures for their activities, we propose to introduce temporary restrictions for their work for up to 60 days. In our opinion, it is during this time that banks will understand whether a citizen will be able to repay the debt or not. In the second case, they should start working independently in the legal field of recovery, and not wait for this debt to grow to huge proportions due to interest arrears, after which it will be given to collectors," Yaroslav Nilov, the author of the initiative, explained to Izvestia.
According to him, it is advantageous for collectors to take on large debts, on which they can earn well, including using illegal methods.
As reported by Izvestia, according to the Central Bank, the overdue loans of individuals this year reached a record 1.5 trillion rubles over the past six years. At the same time, the volume of problem loans increased by 400 billion over the year. Loans issued in late 2023 and early 2024 at high interest rates to risky borrowers are overdue, the regulator's press service said. Problem loans are 90% covered by reserves, which means that banks have set aside money in advance in case they are not repaid.
Izvestia sent requests to the Cabinet of Ministers, the Central Bank and the largest banks of Russia with a request to comment on the initiative.
Will the temporary restriction help debtors
The National Association of Professional Collection Agencies reacted critically to the initiative.
— From 2022 to the present, deputies have introduced at least six such legislative initiatives. None of them has received the principled support of government agencies responsible for shaping financial and economic policy in our country, and they are really well versed in how the overdue debt collection market works," the press service of the NAPCA told Izvestia.
They also believe that the situation in the industry has changed dramatically in recent years.
— For example, in 2024, citizens complained about professional collection organizations in 17% of the total number of applications for the collection of overdue debts. In 51% of the complaints concerned the activities of MFIs and in 22% — the activities of banks. The number of applications deemed justified against professional collection organizations is even lower and in recent years has not exceeded 5% of the total number of applications, the association explained.
They noted that collection organizations, like banks, are an important tool of the financial systems of all progressive countries. It would be right if our country retains this tool while increasing the level of protection of citizens' rights, the association believes.
In fact, today the transfer of problem loans to collectors is unlimited, except for the limitation period, which is three years. That is, if a person took out a loan in 2020, then interest on it can be collected only from 2023 to 2025, explained Alexandra Akimova, a civil law lawyer, to Izvestia.
— But there is also a caveat: the statute of limitations applies only if the defendant declares this in court. The court itself cannot apply this provision. Personally, in my practice, there have been cases when even fully repaid loans were not displayed as repaid due to some internal banking problems in the system, and such debts were transferred after five or six years. And the bank branch was closed, there were no documents left. You know what problems people have," the expert explained.
According to her, the introduction of a 60-day limit will make dealing with such debts uninteresting for collectors, since the amounts are usually small. This will force banks to deal with foreclosure on their own, rather than transfer problematic assets to "it is unclear where and to whom," so the initiative can be supported.
— In Russia, there is now a significant increase in violations by collectors against citizens in debt collection. This includes pressure on third parties, making calls at prohibited night hours, and exceeding the number of contacts. Unfortunately, the number of such violations has been increasing over the past two years, which directly indicates the problem and the need to take action," Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Council at Rosportrebnadzor, explained to Izvestia.
According to him, any restrictions in the work of collection organizations can only be welcomed. However, the proposed measures to ban the transfer of overdue debts over 60 days are unlikely to be effective for people with debts over 1 million rubles. In addition, if a person does not have money, then these 60 days will not save him, because the interest will still increase. Perhaps there are some additional measures needed to resolve the situation, the social activist believes.
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