Central Bank penalizes 16 banks and 2 microfinance organizations over consumer protection failures

Investigations into the microfinance sector targeted Shaffof-moliya and Tezcoin, both of which operate under the Uzum Holding umbrella. Authorities discovered that these organizations failed to adhere to debt-to-income ratio requirements when issuing microloans. Furthermore, the companies did not follow proper procedures for handling client complaints, provided incomplete information in loan agreements, and repeatedly failed to submit credit history data to credit bureaus within the legally mandated timeframes. Consequently, the Central Bank fined Shaffof-moliya UZS 201 million and Tezcoin UZS 156 million.

Uzum bank also faced significant scrutiny. The regulator identified multiple violations, including the improper display of information on the bank’s official website and failure to provide consumers with the legally required minimum volume of disclosures. Similar to the microfinance firms, the bank failed to address customer appeals correctly and delayed the transmission of credit history data. Additionally, their consumer agreements lacked essential clauses required by law. These infractions resulted in a penalty of UZS 215.5 million.

Separately, the Central Bank examined consumer complaints involving Ipoteka-bank. The investigation revealed that the bank was debiting funds from borrowers’ cards to settle loan debts before the scheduled due dates. Furthermore, the bank engaged in unauthorized debiting of funds, a practice not stipulated in the original credit agreements. Other violations included the delayed removal of collateral records from the public registry and non-compliance with legal standards regarding contract documentation. For these failures, Ipoteka-bank was ordered to pay a fine of UZS 105 million.

During the first quarter, the regulator also utilized the "mystery shopper" method to assess the transparency and accuracy of information provided to customers at regional bank branches. Following these evaluations, 14 additional banks were fined a combined total of UZS 681.5 million. This group included Agrobank, which was penalized UZS 255 million, and Uzsanoatqurilishbank, which received a fine of UZS 119.5 million. The Central Bank did not release the names of the remaining financial institutions included in this group.