A man is seeking to terminate his loan agreement with Monobank, which claims he owes 246,684 hryvnias. The court has made its decision.

Monobank is demanding that a man repay a debt under a credit agreement amounting to 246,684 hryvnias. At the same time, he requests the court to declare invalid the banking services agreement signed between him and JSC "Universal Bank" dated January 23, 2018. This was stated in the decision of the Kyiv-Sviatoshyn District Court of Kyiv Oblast, published on May 28, 2024.

On January 23, 2018, the man approached Monobank to obtain banking services, during which he signed an application form for the banking services agreement. The creditor fulfilled its obligations in full, providing a credit limit of 70,000 hryvnias. However, the client failed to meet his obligations, resulting in a debt under the credit agreement of 246,684 hryvnias, which comprises 173,124 hryvnias of principal debt and 73,559 hryvnias of penalties and fees.

In September 2021, the man filed a counterclaim against JSC "Universal Bank" to declare the credit agreement invalid, stating that the interest rates of 38.4% and 76.8% are excessively high, and the penalty amounts are unfair, contradicting the principles of reasonableness and good faith. Additionally, the terms of the agreement grant the creditor the right to unilaterally change the terms of the contract, specifically regarding the establishment of the credit limit. Under these circumstances, he requests the court to declare the banking services agreement between him and JSC "Universal Bank" dated January 23, 2018, invalid.

What did the court decide?

The court partially granted the claim. The man is ordered to repay the debt under the loan agreement dated January 23, 2018, to JSC "Universal Bank" in the amount of 70,000 hryvnias. The request for a counterclaim from the citizen to JSC "Universal Bank" to declare the credit agreement invalid was denied.

"According to the debt calculation as of March 15, 2021, and the statement of account transactions, the debtor was granted a credit limit of 50,000 hryvnias as of January 23, 2018, which was increased to 70,000 hryvnias on June 8, 2018. From January 23, 2018, to March 15, 2021, the debtor repeatedly withdrew funds and also replenished the balance on the card. However, ultimately, the debtor improperly fulfilled his obligations to repay the funds, resulting in a principal debt of 173,124 hryvnias and other payments amounting to 73,559 hryvnias. At the same time, from the mentioned statement, the court established that the debt of 173,124 hryvnias, besides the principal, includes penalties, and the application form dated March 18, 2011, does not specify the agreement between the parties regarding the payment of interest, penalties, and fees; therefore, the court concluded that there were no grounds to impose on the defendant the debt for interest payments, penalties, fees, and fines for late payment of the loan. Nevertheless, since the fact of withdrawing and using the credit funds by the debtor was not refuted, the court concluded that the creditor's claims from JSC "Universal Bank" for the return of the actual borrowed funds up to the established credit limit of 70,000 hryvnias were justified. The debtor did not provide evidence to the court that he did not actually take the funds on credit or use them, thus failing to refute the use of the funds," the court emphasized.