Administrative fines totaling €305,000 to 3 loan and credit claims management companies were imposed by the Ministry of Development for violation of the law following an examination of complaints to the General Directorate of Market and Consumer Protection of the General Secretariat of Commerce.

Specifically:

A fine of €65,000 was imposed on DoValue Greece S.A.E.D.A.D.P. in accordance with Article 10 of Article 1 of Law No. 10 of the Law. The company was charged with the implementation of Article 65.1 of the Law. In accordance with Article 10 of Article 3758/09, for the following reasons:

1. Information of borrowers by representatives of the company on the existence of an overdue debt, where either the borrower had paid the loan instalments regularly or had been subject to the provisions of Law 3869/2010 in compliance with the court regulation.

2. Unfair and misleading practices by a representative of the company. He displayed offensive behaviour by using insulting expressions against a debtor when informing him of the existence of an overdue debt.

A fine of €60,000 was imposed on QQuant Master Servicer Monopoly S.A.E.D.D.P. Following article 13a of Law No. 2251/1994 on unfair business practices, an excessive wait in handling a borrower's request for the sending of a dossier and confirmation of payments in the context of a settlement under a court decision of Law No. 3869/2010.

A fine of €90,000 was imposed on QQuant Master Servicer Monopoly S.A. In application of article 13a of Law No. 2251/1994, for unfair commercial practices, the company was found to have failed to respond to requests from borrowers to send a dossier and a servicing account number for the payment of the amounts stipulated in the court settlement.

A fine of €90,000 was imposed on Cepal Hellas S.A.E.D.A.D.P., in application of Article 13a of Law No. 2251/1994, for unfair commercial practices. In particular, it was found:
1. Non-response of the company to a number of electronic messages from the debtor in order to regulate his debt

2. Unreasonable delay by the company in responding within a reasonable time to efforts to settle overdue debts of borrowers.

3. Unreasonable delay in processing borrower requests for a statement of payments and loan servicing account number.

4. Difficulty in communicating with borrowers in the management of their debts.

The Ministry of Development is conducting intensive checks to ensure compliance with the legislation regulating the operation of collection agencies and behaviours that violate it will not be accepted. From September 2023 to date, fines totaling €1,825,000 have been imposed.

The Minister of Development, Kostas Skrekas, said: "Our government is determined to ensure that collection agencies operate in a lawful, responsible and ethical manner. Unfair practices and behaviours that offend citizens cannot be accepted. Our efforts to strengthen the consumer protection framework and ensure the smooth functioning of the market continue unabated."