The State Duma introduced a bill banning collector activities in the Russian Federation

"According to the Bank of Russia, in the middle of 2022, the level of creditworthiness of citizens increased to 55%, that is, this is the proportion of borrowers who get into new debts. The creditworthiness of the population is affected not only by the ease of obtaining consumer loans and their imposition by banks and microfinance organizations, but also by extremely low incomes of citizens, which have not increased over the past few years", - the text of the explanatory note to the published document says.

The developers of the bill note that such citizens are forced to take out consumer loans at huge interest rates if necessary for treatment, surgery, purchase of household appliances, repairs, payment for housing and communal services. The authors emphasize that more than half of the population pays from 1 to 3 loans at the same time, and 30% of Russians pay more than half of their income on loans every month.

According to the Bank of Russia, as stated in the explanatory note, the debt of Russians on loans to banks exceeded 26 trillion rubles, increasing by almost 2 trillion in 2022. It is emphasized that the growth of overdue debts on consumer loans continues due to a decrease in household incomes in the context of a downturn in the economy.

According to the Federal Bailiff Service, in 2012 2.2 million people were registered as non-payers in the Russian Federation, and in 2021 this figure increased to 8.6 million people. In the future, experts predict the continuation of the trend of growth in the number of defaulters.

According to the authors of the bill, instead of independently collecting overdue loans within the legal framework, banks often go to court or sell debt to collection agencies. According to official data, there are 520 such agencies in Russia. The explanatory note notes the ongoing flow of complaints about the actions of collectors who use psychological pressure and other means of influencing borrowers.

"In this regard, we consider it necessary in the current conditions to prohibit on the territory of the Russian Federation the activities of organizations whose main activity is the return of overdue debts, as well as to prohibit the involvement of other persons by the creditor to carry out interaction with the debtor aimed at the return of overdue debts", - the explanatory note says.

According to the authors of the document, this will help protect the rights and legitimate interests of Russians who find themselves in a difficult financial situation, and will also facilitate the release of a large number of people able to engage in productive work.