Senator Erwin Tulfo yesterday called on concerned government agencies to cancel the licenses of online lending companies that harass their customers who fail to pay their debts on time.
At the Committee on Games and Amusement hearing on bills seeking to either ban or strictly regulate online gambling, Tulfo stated that there are persistent reports that some online lending companies resort to shaming or, even worse, threaten their clients who do not have the means to pay their debts on time.
He called on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Securities Exchange Commission to do something about these practices implemented by online lending firms just to collect debts.
Should we rely solely on the Anti-Cyberbullying Law? The licenses of these kinds of lending institutions must be revoked,” he said.
BSP deputy governor Mamerto Tangonan said lending firms under the supervision of the central bank are strictly reminded of an existing circular for the conduct of market practices of lending companies “in terms of collection and customer engagement.”
He noted that the BSP does not allow such a manner of debt collection, including harassing the debtors.
He added that the BSP has an online “bot” where people can bring their concerns against abusive lending companies.
Lawyer Romarie Abrazaldo from the SEC said they also have a circular on unfair debt collection practices that is also incorporated with the SEC Rules and Regulations for Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits certain acts of abusive collection practices, like cursing and threatening the life of debtors.
The SEC is the primary regulatory body overseeing lending companies, including online lending apps that are not classified as banks or financial institutions under the supervision of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Ban online ads
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri also urged social media platforms to ban advertisements of online gambling companies themselves, while a law banning them has yet to be made.
He said this will be their way of helping Filipinos not to be convinced to gamble online.
“You have to remove all the ads. If we do that for cigarettes and e-cigarettes, we must do the same for online gambling,” Zubiri said.
Tulfo also asked the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation to check reports that “1Xbet”, an online gaming company which is not registered with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), is one of the sponsors of the 2205 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship. The tournament is ongoing at the MOA Arena in Pasay City from Sept. 12 to 18.
He pointed out that the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball Leagues (MPBL) already cancelled its ad contract with 1XBet since it is an illegal online gambling company.
E-wallets are still in use
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros said bettors can still use e-wallets on online gambling sites despite the delinking of e-wallets from them last month.
She was referring to the committee’s order to the BSP to instruct e-wallets to delink themselves from online gambling sites, thereby preventing easy access to e-games.
Tangonan said their order to delink was followed but legitimate online gambling companies were given the leeway to still use e-wallets as “basic payment services.”
“With regards to the basic payment services, because that is the online gambling operators, as far as they are licensed, they are considered legitimate entities and so the purpose for which the top-ups are being used is for a legitimate purpose and therefore there’s no basis to deny that service, you honor,” Tangonan said.
Hontiveros then asked representatives of e-wallets if the practice poses a problem.
GCash legal head Gilbert Escoto said their company cannot “discriminate” against legitimate gambling platforms. He added that they also cannot determine how much their users bet on online gambling sites.
Toff Rada, Maya’s corporate affairs head, said his company is a payments platform that processes hundreds of thousands of different merchants that are legal and authorized in accordance with the law.
Escoto said they will obey if a law is issued for e-wallets to discontinue cash transactions concerning online gambling sites, to which Rada agreed.
They said that they can also put a cap on bets if there is a law regarding it.
“If there is a regulation to that effect, we can put a limitation on the top-up aspect,” Escoto said.
