Proposal passes in Parliament: A new era for consumer loans

In the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) General Assembly, the first section of the Bill on Amendments to the Law on the Protection of Consumers and Certain Other Laws, consisting of 5 articles, was accepted.

According to the accepted articles, the formal requirements for contracts between lenders and consumers under the Law on the Protection of Consumers are being reorganized to allow for their establishment via information or electronic communication devices through methods that include consumer identity verification. Accordingly, a consumer loan agreement will not be valid unless it is established in writing or remotely.

Considering the regulation allowing consumer loan agreements to be established remotely via distance communication tools, a provision is being made to ensure that other transactions related to the contract can also be performed remotely in an electronic environment via a permanent data storage device.

Accordingly, the account related to a fixed-term loan agreement will be closed upon the repayment of the loan, unless the consumer requests otherwise in writing or via a permanent data storage device.

The same provisions will also apply to contracts between housing finance institutions and consumers.

TWO ARTICLES REMOVED FROM THE PROPOSAL

On the other hand, two articles containing regulations that were re-drafted in light of the Constitutional Court's decision to annul the article titled "Institutional revenues" of the Presidential Decree regarding the establishment of the Turkish Energy, Nuclear and Mineral Research Agency (TENMAK) were removed from the proposal, as they were already included in the Law on Amendments to Tax Laws and Certain Other Laws, which was enacted during the 2nd Year of the 28th Legislative Term of the TBMM.

SESSION TO CONTINUE TODAY

Following the acceptance of the articles in the first section of the bill, Deputy Speaker of the TBMM Sırrı Süreyya Önder adjourned the session. After the break, as the commission did not take its place, Önder closed the session to reconvene today at 14:00.

News Source: AA