Bangkok, The BoT reveals measures to help chronically vulnerable debtors who are not NPLs to close their debt faster within 5 years and reduce their interest burden by no more than 15% per year, starting April 1 , 2024 , indicating that if Banks – Non-banks under supervision do not notify debtors. considered guilty
Mrs. Oramon Chantaphan, Director of Financial Services Protection and Inspection Department The Bank of Thailand (BoT) revealed that as the BoT issued guidelines for responsible and fair lending (Responsible Lending) on ??January 1, 2024, which raised the level of assistance to borrowers. financial institution from requesting cooperation It requires financial institutions to take care of debtors who have problems repaying their debts through debt restructuring. and help debtors who are in chronic debt to close their debts Including protecting the rights of debtors Some of which have been effective since the beginning of this year, such as debt restructuring for retail debtors and SMEs who have pr
oblems repaying their debts both before becoming bad debt (non-NPL) and after becoming bad debt (NPL) at least 1 Protecting debtors’ rights more fairly, such as prohibiting prepayment fees for small loans (except in the case of refinancing home loans within the first 3 years)
Since 1 April 2024, debtors who are considered to be in chronic debt (Persistent Debt: PD) who are a vulnerable group will receive assistance to pay off their debt faster and reduce their interest burden. The debtors who are considered chronic are those with personal loans under supervision. Revolving credit line type (Excluding loans with vehicle registration as collateral digital personal loans and credit cards) that are not NPL and pay interest totaling more than the total principal paid for a long period of time. Which can be divided into 2 groups as follows:
1. Debtors who have begun to have chronic debt problems (general PD) are debtors who have paid interest in total more than the total principal for 3 years but less than 5 year
s. The debtor will receive a notification. To encourage the behavior to pay additional debt and consider asking for help to be able to close the debt faster.
2. Debtors who are in chronic debt (severe PD) are debtors who have paid interest more than the total principal for 5 years and have a monthly income of less than 20,000 baht for debtors of financial institutions and companies in the financial business group or less than 10,000 baht. For debtors lying in the bank The debtor will receive a notification. and voluntarily join the measures to close chronic debt (opt-in) by changing the type of loan to a loan that pays in installments (installment loan) to close the debt within 5 years with an effective interest rate not exceeding 15% per year. The debtor must close the credit line participating in the measure. In order to effectively close the debt under the measures. and there is a credit history report showing that they have participated in such measures as well.
Both groups of debtors will receive notif
ication on an account-by-account basis. (At least once a year) through at least one channel agreed upon with the creditor, such as letter, email, SMS, mobile application, to encourage payment. Debt repayments increased as well as applying to join measures to end chronic debt. If the debtor wants to know his or her status You can contact the service provider’s branch or call center to check the status and ask for details about participating in measures to solve chronic debt.
However, measures to end chronic debt will focus on helping debtors with personal loans under supervision. A type of revolving credit line that has been paying a minimum for a long time. which intends to close the debt and voluntarily participate in the measures For other groups of debtors who have problems repaying their debts You can contact your creditors to request assistance. Especially debt restructuring under the criteria of Responsible Lending or other approaches under the BoT’s sustainable debt resolution.
‘In the case of debtor
s who have already taken measures to solve sustainable debt problems But still unable to close the debt according to the conditions and time period specified. Still able to negotiate with creditors to request debt restructuring,’ Ms. Oramon said.
The BoT will closely supervise service providers. Follow up and push service providers to strictly comply with the Responsible Lending criteria to ensure that debtors receive timely, appropriate assistance and receive fair services. In March 2024, they will inspect the debtors. Providing services through continuous inspection (ongoing supervision), such as random inspections of debt restructuring that the service provider has actually helped to solve the debt Including the quality of assistance to debtors, such as providing complete debt restructuring information. Check the implementation of measures to end chronic debt. including notification of debtors and continuously monitor the numbers of assistance to chronic debtors as well as checking the accuracy of fee cal
culations such as prepayment fees. If the BoT investigates and finds important issues Will order the service provider to fix immediately. and consider appropriate punishments further.
Source: Thai News Agency