One of the authors of the initiative, the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labour, Social and Veterans Affairs, Yaroslav Nilov, believes that it is impossible, in principle, to regulate the activities of collectors. They are incurable. In a legal sense. So the only way out is to kill them. Figuratively speaking.
However, not everyone agrees with such a radical interpretation. For many experts, the proposal seems quite emotional and lacks perspective. But be that as it may, one thing is indisputable: at one time collectors managed to earn such a reputation, from which it is not so easy to wash off. Even if we imagine that, from tomorrow, collectors will begin to work in an exceptionally civilized manner and in compliance with the letter of the law, they will long remember all their outrages from the past. And in each collector they will see that very jerk, ready to throw a Molotov cocktail out of the debtor’s window.
“It must be admitted that the experiment with the collectors in Russia failed. We must stop it, dissolve the collectors, give them a job,” said Yaroslav Nilov.
They call people day and night, threaten them, promise to torture them with a soldering iron, continues Yaroslav Nilov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs. And there is a feeling that it is impossible to instill some rules of decency in collectors.
“We tried to regulate them many times. In 2016, a basic law on collecting activities was passed. But, as practice shows, poultices, ointments and even antibiotics do not help. This is a cancerous tumor.” this activity in Russia.
At the same time, it stresses that the ban does not have to be eternal. Someday the question may be returned. In the meantime, they say, it is necessary to let society heal the wounds inflicted by the exactors. “Then, over time, study what the mistakes are and, possibly, return to this issue. But now only such a tough intervention will help,” says Yaroslav Nilov. “We prepared such a bill and sent it to get the opinion of the government . .”
However, not all experts share this surgical point of view. “The problem of unscrupulous debt collectors cannot be solved by bans alone,” believes Anton Bibarov-Gosudarev, a member of the Russian Bar Association.
Remember that the law allows the collector to approach the debtor no more than once a week, call no more than once a day and no more than twice a week, and no more than eight times a month. The frequency of sending messages by telephone is also established, the time of said communication is regulated.
“Collectors do not have the right to call some debtors: pregnant women and mothers with children under one and a half years old, the elderly over 70 and disabled from the first group, insolvent, as well as people who are being treated. in hospitals. And these are not all the restrictions for collectors. In case of violation of these rules, such collection agencies may fall into the field of vision of the bailiff service, which today is responsible for controlling them, “says Anton Bibarov-Gosudarev.
It is also possible to contact the prosecutor’s office or the police, depending on the actions of the collectors themselves, the expert continues. Thus, citizens have the possibility of legal protection. Questions of strengthening such protection can also be discussed. However, many experts do not support the idea of a complete ban on collectors.
Now 520 collection agencies are officially registered with the bailiff service
“Law-abiding collectors, of course, work in the financial services market, and there are not as few of them as it might seem. There are known examples from practice when the collectors themselves carefully study the debtor’s situation and suggest ways of get out of it,” says a member of the AJUR. “If the borrower is ready to work, collect and repay the loan, there have been cases where collectors find a way for the client to earn money by giving them the opportunity to repay the loan.
Of course, such stories do not reach the media, because they are not “fried” enough. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist at all. Although even if there is a boor among hundreds of positive collectors in everything, making people have a heart attack by talking to himself, this is too much. And this is one reason why the broad masses dislike all collectors as a class. So until the boors are gone, in any case, you need to take some steps. “Collectors are major players in the financial services market, and they really often manage to convince the debtor to start paying off the debt,” says Anton Bibarov-Gosudarev. “.
