Almost 500,000 Kazakh residents will be excluded from banks’ blacklist. According to the law signed today by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the storage period for credit histories will be reduced from ten to five years. Thus, people who once had bad credit history will be able to borrow from financial institutions in case of emergency. The document regulates the debt collectors activity as well. From now on, they have no right to disturb debtors and call from other people’s phone numbers. Also, collectors are prohibited from disturbing relatives of non-payers. They will have to make video and audio recording of any interaction with debtors. According to the legislators, this rule will avoid rough treatment or violations of the law by the collectors. The document also strengthened the responsibility of microfinance organizations. Henceforth they will have to write the full loan amount on the first page of the contract. The law also provided for a ban on the accrual of commissions on loans after 180 days of delay.
Translation by Saniya Sakenova
Editing by Galiya Khassenkhanova
