Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday said he will seek an inquiry into the proliferation of loan sharks and other online lending companies which are not licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Gatchalian, Senate committee on banks, financial institutions, and currencies vice chair; said remedial legislation may be needed to address possible gaps in the existing policies being enforced by government regulatory bodies and other concerned agencies amid the emergence of online cash loan services of unlicensed lenders.
He said the BSP should advise the public not to transact with these types of “predatory lending.”
He said his office continues to receive complaints against unlicensed online lending companies and lending apps.
He said complainants say they receive threats, intimidation, and public shaming from debt collectors.
Because of the harsh manner of debt collection, there are victims who reportedly commit suicide and many more receive death threats. This should serve as a lesson to those looking for quick cash loans, that they must thoroughly study the way by which a company offers the loan” Gatchalian added.
In December last year, the SEC revoked the certificate of authority of online firm Super Cash Lending Corp. after it was found to have engaged in unfair debt collection practices while the National
Privacy Commission (NPC) last February recommended the prosecution of Fynamics Lending Inc., the operator of the PondoPeso online lending app, for harassing and public-shaming delinquent borrowers and for violating the data privacy law.
Gatchalian has sought for the enactment of the proposed Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by filing Senate Bill No. 1366 which prohibits debt collectors from harassing or threatening the debtor and his or her family with death or physical injuries, inflict harm on the debtor’s reputation or give misleading claims that non-payment of debt will result to arrest, imprisonment, garnishment or sale of any property.
Creditors and debt collectors are also barred from accessing personal information of the debtor without the consent of the concerned person.
