The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has published the results of inspections conducted in the first quarter of this year regarding compliance with consumer rights in financial services.
Inspections revealed violations of legal requirements at microfinance organizations Shaffof-moliya and Tezcoin, as well as at Uzum Bank.
Specifically, microfinance organizations were found to have failed to comply with debt burden requirements for borrowers when issuing microloans, violated the procedure for handling citizen appeals, incompletely reflected mandatory information in microloan agreements, and untimely transferred client credit history data to credit bureaus.
Uzum Bank was found to have violated requirements for information disclosure on its official website and the volume of information provided to consumers, violated the procedure for handling appeals, untimely transferred credit history data to the credit bureau, and lacked certain mandatory conditions stipulated by law in client agreements.
Based on the inspection results, the Central Bank imposed fines: Shaffof-moliya — 201 million soums ($15,800); Tezcoin — 156 million soums ($12,300); Uzum Bank — 215.5 million soums ($16,900).
Additionally, the Central Bank reviewed consumer complaints related to Ipoteka-bank. The inspection showed that the bank allowed debiting funds from borrowers' bank accounts to repay loans earlier than the payment schedule stipulated. Funds were also debited without client consent, despite the absence of such a condition in loan agreements.
Furthermore, the record of the bank's rights to collateral property was removed from the collateral register in violation of established deadlines, and legal requirements were not followed when drafting agreements.
For the identified violations, Ipoteka-bank was fined 105 million soums ($8,300).
In the first quarter, the Central Bank also conducted control measures using the 'mystery client' method at regional branches and divisions of commercial banks.
The inspections revealed violations of legal requirements regarding openness, transparency, completeness, and reliability of information provided to consumers of financial services.
Considering the nature, scale, and duration of the violations, fines totaling 681.5 million soums ($53,700) were imposed on 14 commercial banks. Among them, Agrobank was fined 255 million soums ($20,100), and O‘zsanoatqurilishbank was fined 119.5 million soums ($9,400).
Source: www.uznews.uz