Borrowers began massively suing the banks for a fee to reduce rates.
Russian borrowers have begun to successfully challenge in the courts the practice of raising loan rates when they refuse paid services. We are talking about a common mechanism where the bank gives a reduced interest rate in exchange for a one-time fee or the purchase of a package of additional services, and when the customer leaves them, it significantly raises the rate.
The courts have already made a series of decisions against the major players in the market. In particular, customers won at least eight disputes with an opinion on the terms of the Domclick Plus package with subscription and life insurance. At least five decisions were made against VTB under the "your low rate" option: in one case, the court revealed a pre-signed agreement, ordering the lender to return 174 thousand rubles and maintain a rate of 24% instead of 35.7%. Similar decisions were recorded in disputes with Alfa-Bank, Subcombank, Gazprombank and OTP Bank.
The judicial practice comes from the fact that interest is the price of a loan, and not a separate banking service. The courts agree to the collection of the fees for its reduction as hidden interest, while recognizing the deterioration of the loan terms as a violation of the borrowers' rights.
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