No.07-00-299/2015-02  Date: 10 September 2015

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the procedure regarding the complaint lodged by D.A. of B. against the C. Bank JSC B. The complainant stated that he was 77 and that he wanted to apply for a loan intended for pension beneficiaries with the C. Bank – B. Branch, but he did not meet the stipulated requirement that a pension beneficiary should be no more than 75 on the day of payment of the last instalment. In the declaration of the C. Bank JSC B. it was stated that in the case concerned the provisions of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination had not been violated and that setting the requirements for the conclusion of a loan agreement constitutes the right and the obligation of the Bank to identify and assess risks and to decide under what conditions to approve a loan. In the course of the procedure it was established that the C. Bank JSC B. prescribed for its service “cash loans and refinancing loans for pension beneficiaries”, among other things, the requirement that pension beneficiaries at the time of application are at least 55 years old, and that on the day of payment of the last instalment they are at most 75 years old. The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality issued the opinion that the C. Bank JSC B, by issuing the requirements relating to the age of users of loans for pension beneficiaries of minimum 55 years at the time of application and maximum 75 years on the day of payment of the last instalment, violated the provisions of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination. For this reason the C. Bank JSC B. was recommended to align the criteria and conditions for the provision of loan services designed for pension beneficiaries with anti-discrimination regulations, and not to violate anti-discrimination regulations in the future when performing activities within its competence.