The positive credit register is still not mature and must better ensure the protection of consumer rights

The Ministry of Finance has prepared a new version of a draft law aimed at creating a positive credit register that supports creditors in assessing a person’s creditworthiness. The Chamber continues to see several concerns in the draft that have not yet been resolved and has requested the inclusion of an additional measure in the draft law to protect consumer rights, specifically that consumers should be notified when a query about them is made to the credit register.

Consumer rights protection must be stronger

The Chamber again proposed to the ministry that additional consumer protection measures be added to the law. In the Chamber’s view, a solution where the consumer receives a notification when a query is made about them in the register would provide protection. Since a query to assess a consumer's creditworthiness must be made before entering into a credit agreement with the consumer, sending notifications would ensure that the consumer can verify that a query was indeed made only when they intended to enter into a credit agreement. As the draft does not include provisions on whether and how the register administrator checks if the consumer has expressed a will to enter into a credit agreement, the Chamber believes that notifying the consumer would help protect their rights.

There must be clear accountability for the unlawful use of data
The Chamber requested that the explanatory memorandum of the draft law be supplemented so that it is clear what requirements apply to an institution or individual when making queries and where the responsibilities related to queries come from. It also requested clarification on how banks and bank employees are held accountable if they violate data processing requirements or, for example, leak personal data to the media. Although the ministry has explained that the requirements and responsibility provisions derive from the Personal Data Protection Act or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Chamber believes that these explanations regarding liability should also be explicitly stated in the draft's explanatory memorandum so that everyone clearly understands them.

The transition period should be at least one year
According to the draft law, data related to consumer credit agreements concluded and valid before the law enters into force must be submitted by the credit information provider to the register administrator within five months from the law's entry into force. Although the transition period has been extended from two months to five months compared to the first version of the draft, the Chamber still considers this period too short. The Chamber believes that since the implementation of the register requires cooperation between many parties, multiple processes, and testing during which errors may emerge, it would be reasonable to extend the transition period even further. The Chamber suggests that the transition period should be at least one year to ensure that the register can be launched successfully and without errors.