A man paid PrivatBank 148,290 UAH, but is being asked to settle a loan debt of 42,962 UAH. What was the court's decision?

A man received a loan in the form of a set credit limit on his account. However, he has failed to meet his obligations, resulting in a debt of 42,962 hryvnias. The client claims that he has no debt to the bank as he has paid 148,290 hryvnias. This is stated in the decision of the Volodarsko-Volynsky District Court of Zhytomyr region, published on January 8, 2025.

The man approached PrivatBank to obtain banking services, signing an application without a number dated June 18, 2014. He received a loan in the form of an established credit limit on his card account, with a subsequent increase of the credit limit to 50,000 hryvnias. The client has not properly fulfilled his obligations under the loan agreement, resulting in a debt of 42,962 hryvnias as of September 29, 2024.

On December 2, 2024, the man submitted a response to the lawsuit in court, requesting the dismissal of the claim in full. The application form does not specify the interest rate, lacks contractual terms regarding liability in the form of penalties, does not define the loan term, and the conditions and rules for providing banking services have not been signed. Additionally, he claims to have no debt to the bank, as during the period from June 1, 2015, to June 30, 2019, he paid 43,695 hryvnias against the current loan amount of 21,483 hryvnias, and from July 1, 2019, to September 29, 2024, he paid 148,290 hryvnias.

What was the court's decision? 

The court denied the claim. As of October 2, 2024, the man has no debt to JSC KB "PrivatBank" regarding the loan based on the application form dated June 14, 2014.

"The application for adherence to the terms and conditions of service dated November 5, 2021, contains general information and does not include the interest rate for the use of credit funds provided based on the application form dated June 14, 2014. Furthermore, the application lacks the defendant's signature, but an OTP is indicated, the legal nature of which is unknown. The case materials do not contain evidence of an agreement between the parties regarding the amount and procedure for calculating interest for the use of a specific loan in any amount. Considering this, the plaintiff has no basis for calculating interest from the application form dated June 14, 2014. The court, in order to verify the accuracy and objectivity of the debt amount to the bank, analyzed the statement of the defendant's card account and established that the debt of 42,962 hryvnias, which the plaintiff requests to recover as the principal amount of the loan, includes both the funds actually provided to the defendant and the accrued interest for the use of the credit limit and the amounts for insurance of the credit limit. According to the card account statement, from June 18, 2014, to October 2, 2024, he actually used credit funds totaling 158,136 hryvnias, excluding accrued interest and amounts for insurance of the credit limit, while the total receipts to the credit cards during the specified period amounted to 203,412 hryvnias. This indicates that as of October 2, 2024, the defendant has no debt to JSC KB "PrivatBank" regarding the principal amount of the loan based on the application form dated June 14, 2014. Therefore, the court concludes that the claim should be denied in full," the court emphasized.