The Higher Court in Podgorica rejected as unfounded the appeal of the Crnogorsk Commercial Bank (CKB) and issued a verdict that found that the bank had violated the Law on Consumer Protection, which also violated the collective rights of consumers in Montenegro, announced the Center for Consumer Protection (CEZAP ).
In the judgment passed on March 20, as stated, the High Court confirmed the first-instance judgment of the Basic Court, dated November 18, 2022, and in its explanation, among other things, stated the following:
"It is established that the defendant violated Art. 102nd st. 1 of the Law on Consumer Protection by setting a loan processing fee in the amount of 1% to 1,7% of the amount of the approved loan, which also violated the collective rights of consumers. The defendant is prohibited from specifying in the contracts it offers to consumers a fee for loan processing in percentages, depending on the amount of the loan to be approved, within 15 days from the finality of the judgment. The defendant is prohibited from such or similar behavior in the future".
CEZAP reminds that they filed a lawsuit against CKB bank in November 2021, through lawyer Miloš Vukčević, the representative of CEZAP. On November 28, 2022, CKB banka filed an appeal to the High Court against the verdict of the Basic Court in this case, rendered in favor of CEZAP. "By checking the regularity and legality of the first-instance verdict, the High Court found that the appeal request of CKB banka is unfounded, which is why it confirmed the first-instance verdict of the Basic Court in Podgorica," the statement added.
According to CEZAP, the judgment of the High Court is the second final judgment that was passed in Montenegro following a lawsuit for the protection of collective interests of consumers.
"In addition to being important for a wide range of consumers, existing and all future clients of CKB Bank (but also, indirectly, other banks in Montenegro that apply the same practice), according to Dr. Miloš Vukčević, representative of CEZAP, this judgment is also significant in terms of of the EU negotiations of Montenegro because it confirms the readiness of the Montenegrin judiciary to interpret the legislation in accordance with the acquis of the EU and the judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU, and thereby directly contributes to the process of temporarily closing the negotiated Chapter 28: Consumer and health protection," states CEZAP.
In the explanation of the verdict, as they said, the High Court confirmed the facts from the verdict of the Basic Court, according to which CKB banka violated the collective interests and rights of consumers (existing and potential clients) by agreeing on a one-time payment of a loan commission - a loan processing fee in the range of one to 1,7 percent of the amount of the approved loan, depending on the type of approved loan, in accordance with the List of conditions for loans for legal entities in that period.
"Such behavior of CKB banka is contrary to the provisions of Article 102, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Law on Consumer Protection, which are fully harmonized with the provisions of Article 3, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the EU Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair contractual terms , which aim to protect consumers from unfair provisions, and considering their subordinate position and inability to influence the way traders (in this case, banks) do business," CEZAP points out.
"Also, the High Court found that by interpreting the cited norms (Montenegrin and EU legislation), as the first-instance court correctly found, comes to the conclusion that the violation of the principle of conscientiousness and honesty, when it comes to the collection of fees for loan processing, is reflected in the fact that the defendant, when contracting the loan, does not show the nature of the fees it charges from consumers and costs which are covered by that fee, charge that fee in different amounts, depending on the amount of the loan, while not stating clear criteria due to which there is a difference in the amount of commission charged. He also confirmed that during the entire procedure, CKB Bank did not prove that the loan processing fee corresponds to the actual services provided and the incurred costs. Among other things, the court stated that the first-instance court correctly concludes that the consumers in the specific case were not transparently informed by the defendant about the services actually provided to them and the costs incurred during the processing of the loan," the announcement states.
"According to the above, according to the assessment of the High Court, such behavior of the bank led to a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the contracting parties to the detriment of the consumer, which, in addition to the first-instance court, also according to its assessment, fulfilled the conditions that the contracting of this fee represents an unfair contractual provision. according to the judgment of the High Court, this behavior of CKB Bank is in contradiction with both the Law on Consumer Protection and the Directive 93/13/EEC, as well as the cited judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU from cases that were brought before it on the same occasion," concludes CEZAP.
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