Supreme Court ruling on pensions affects millions of retirees

A lawsuit filed by a retiree who wanted to transfer their pension to another bank brought the debate over whether pension accounts can be blocked due to loan debts to the judiciary. At the end of the legal process, the Supreme Court upheld the decision in favor of the retiree, finalizing the removal of the block on the pension.

WANTED TO TRANSFER PENSION, ENCOUNTERED A BLOCK

The retiree who filed the lawsuit stated that they had been receiving their pension for a long time through the **Ziraat Bank Ankara Anıttepe Branch**. The retiree noted that they wanted to transfer their pension to another bank to take advantage of the promotions offered by private banks, but could not perform this transaction due to the block at the current bank.

BANK CITED LOAN DEBT AS REASON

According to BirGün, the bank reported that there was a block on the pension account due to a housing loan the retiree had taken out. Bank officials informed the retiree that this block could not be removed until the loan debt was fully paid off.

Upon this, the retiree applied to the judiciary, arguing that the pension transfer process could not be blocked.

CONSUMER COURT: PENSIONS CANNOT BE BLOCKED

The Ankara 5th Consumer Court, which heard the case, assessed that prior consent given for rights that cannot be seized, such as pension payments, cannot be considered valid.

The court ruled for the removal of the block placed on the pension account and the removal of the obstacle preventing the retiree from transferring their pension to another bank.

APPELLATE COURT AND SUPREME COURT UPHELD THE DECISION

The bank took the decision to the appellate court, but the 3rd Civil Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Justice also found the local court's decision to be in accordance with the law.

The file was then sent to the 11th Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court. The chamber rejected the bank's appeal and upheld the appellate court's decision. Thus, the decision regarding the removal of the block on the pension became final.

News Source: 12punto