October has been the best month since establishment of the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre in terms of the number of applications received and casefiles formed, that is accepted by traders to be resolved via ABDRC.
The workload of the Center doubled in October vs. the average of the first nine months of 2017. There are 120 casefiles resolved or in progress with the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Center, and more than 50 are currently being screened. And, for the very first time, the more than 170 applications exceed the number of cases closed.

As at 30.09.2017 (first 9 months of 2017), there were:

• 73 casefiles;
• 47 in screening phase (review of documents);
• 147 closed.

As at 31.10.2017 we have:

• 120 casefiles;
• 54 in screening phase;
• 164 closed.

During the last four weeks, ABDRC registered 47 new casefiles. That is to say, 65% of the total number of casefiles managed in the first nine months of the year were formed in October.

Similarly, the number of applications is also growing strongly. In average, during the first nine months of 2017, Average received 7 applications a week. In October, the average was 17 applications a week. 72% of the applications are received by email, 15% at the registered office, and 13% by mail.

“After 2 years of the establishment of the Center, we see an increased interest for and awareness of consumers and traders of ABDRC. Shifting the mind-set and perception of amicable dispute resolution is a process that takes time, and we expected it to be like this. Now, both clients, and banks or NBFIs are increasingly more interested in the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Center, an European body that can help them solve their disputes amicably, without ending up in court, which is manifestly more convenient for both parties, and less expensive for traders, and free of charge for consumers”, declared Alexandru Păunescu, Chairman of the Steering Board of ABDRC.

The positive trend in amicable resolution of the disputes with banks and NBFIs is supported also by the number of casefiles accepted by traders: from an average of 2 casefiles a week accepted in the first 9 months of the year, up to 12 a week in October this year.

The applications received from consumers targeted the following types of claims:

• removal and repayment of the risk/management fee charged for a loan;
• rescheduling/staging-out of the loan with reduction of the monthly instalment;
• reduction of the interest, and returning the amount resulted from the excessive increase in the interest rate, as perceived by consumers;
• reduction of the interest rate, reduction of the principal, and conversion of the loans in CHF into RON;
• removal of clauses qualified by consumers as abusive, as regards application of default interests;