ONLINE lending applications have no limit on the interest rates they impose on loans.
This was according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was present during Tuesday’s hearing of the Senate Committee on Games and Amusement.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri questioned this.
“Ibig mong sabihin wala po tayong cap? So kung meron po kayong lending app, application, na-grant po, pwede po silang mag-charge up to 20 percent a week? Wala po pala tayong batas para po diyan?” Zubiri asked.
SEC counsel Atty. Romarie Abrazaldo answered, “Unfortunately, your honor, yes po.”
“Loan transactions are covered by the civil law so basically kung ano ang pinag-usapan, pinagkasunduan sa kontrata between the lender and the borrower yun po ang nasusunod at present,” she added.
Zubiri pointed out that many do not understand the fine print of a contract. He also mentioned that the Supreme Court even said a 3 percent interest rate per month is already unconscionable.
But Abrazaldo said, “For the court to actually rule on the unconscionability or the high interest rates, I think a certain borrower would have to go to the court together with their loan documents and present it to the court.”
She also noted that the SEC is studying the imposition of interest rate ceilings.
Committee chair Erwin Tulfo was likewise alarmed considering the harassment that borrowers are subjected to by some lenders when they are unable to pay.
“Dapat po tanggalan ng lisensiya yung mga lending institutions na ganun,” Tulfo said.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) explained that it does not allow abusive methods.
“The universe of lending companies online and otherwise may be divided into those supervised by the BSP and those supervised by SEC. Those supervised by BSP, we have a circular regulating the market conduct or practices of lending companies in terms of collection and customer engagement. So hindi pinapayagan ganung methods that harass the borrowers,” BSP Deputy Governor Mamerto Tangonan said. (ABS-CBN News)
