[PIO] Announcement of the Consumer Protection Service regarding publications on unfair terms

In relation to the latest publications regarding the infringement procedure (INFR(2024)0018) against Cyprus, the following is highlighted:

1. This procedure concerns the transposition of Directive (EU) 2021/2167 on credit managers and credit purchasers, which includes a package of seven (7) bills. The Directive in question is commonly known as the Non-Performing Loans Directive and sets out a common framework and European Commission requirements for credit managers and credit purchasers.
2. The Ministry of Finance is responsible for the transposition of the referenced Directive and currently the package of bills is being debated before the relevant Parliamentary Committee.
3. Therefore, the infringement procedure (INFR(2024)0018) has nothing to do with the European Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms, for the implementation of which the Consumer Protection Agency is the competent authority.
4. Furthermore, it should be noted that the decisions issued by the Consumer Protection Agency against credit institutions for unfair terms concerned a breach of the Law on Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts of 1996, which was replaced by the Law on Consumer Protection of 2021 (Law 112(I)/2021).
5. Under the previous law on unfair terms, the decisions issued by the Consumer Protection Agency did not concern enforceable administrative acts, i.e. they were not binding, and there is case law to this effect.
6. Against this background, the Consumer Protection Office, in accordance with Article 9 of the Law, proceeded to register applications against all credit institutions, for which relevant administrative decisions had been issued in the District Courts, for the issuance of injunctions to cease the use and/or non-repetition of abusive clauses. At this stage, the applications in question are pending before the competent courts.
7. In addition, it should be noted that, according to the Consumer Protection Law, the Consumer Protection Agency now has the power to impose administrative fines for unfair terms, taking into account that the decisive time for examining the unfairness of the terms of a contract is the time of its conclusion, i.e. after 2021.

Finally, the Consumer Protection Service stresses that it is a long-standing priority of the Service to strengthen the protection and empowerment of consumers' interests by ensuring the full and correct application of the legislation and recommends that before any media publication concerning the Service is made, it should be verified in order to avoid the publication of inaccurate and incorrect information which could mislead consumers.

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