A woman opened an account, but PrivatBank automatically deducted 21,650 hryvnias to settle her loan. Here's the court's decision on the matter.

A woman opened an account at PrivatBank. Subsequently, an automatic deduction of debt was made from her account in the amounts of 1,853 hryvnias and 19,796 hryvnias, totaling 21,650 hryvnias. She is demanding the return of these funds. This is stated in the decision of the Chornobayivsky District Court of Cherkasy Oblast, published on November 26, 2024.

On May 19, 2006, the woman entered into a loan agreement with PrivatBank. In May 2013, the financial institution filed a lawsuit against her in the Chornobayivsky District Court of Cherkasy Oblast for the recovery of debt under the aforementioned loan agreement. The Chornobayivsky District Court of Cherkasy Oblast, in its decision dated July 25, 2013, fully denied the bank's claims due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. By the ruling of the Cherkasy Oblast Court of Appeals on October 10, 2013, the decision of the Chornobayivsky District Court of Cherkasy Oblast was upheld, and the appeal was denied. At the end of September 2023, she approached the defendant's branch to open a bank account and inquired whether she had any issues with the bank. She was informed that there were no problems, and she could use the bank's services, after which she opened a payment card that she began to use. On October 18, 2023, an automatic deduction of debt was made from her bank card in the amounts of 1,853 hryvnias and 19,796 hryvnias, totaling 21,650 hryvnias. Disagreeing with these actions of the bank, on October 23, 2023, she submitted a request for a copy of the agreement under which the funds were deducted and the calculation of the debt.

At the end of November 2023, the woman received a letter from PrivatBank stating that they could not provide her with a copy of the agreement for her safety, and that the calculation of the debt is only available upon court request. The letter also noted that according to clause 1.1.11.3 of the Terms and Conditions for Providing Banking Services, the client's consent for the deduction of funds to fulfill the obligation for loan repayment is not required. She believes that the bank's actions are illegal, violate the norms of the Constitution of Ukraine, the Civil Code of Ukraine, and the Law of Ukraine "On Payment Systems and Money Transfers in Ukraine," as the bank unilaterally and without her consent deducted funds from her card account.

"According to the plaintiff, on May 19, 2006, a loan agreement was concluded. She did not return the funds received under the agreement, and again, according to her, a series of court proceedings occurred, resulting in a decision stating that there was no debt (at present, neither case numbers nor requests for the retrieval of the specified cases to confirm her claims have been received). The client claims that at the end of September 2023, she approached the branch of JSC CB 'PrivatBank' to open a bank account. After that, an automatic deduction of debt was made in the amounts of 1,853 hryvnias and 19,796 hryvnias, totaling 21,650 hryvnias. It was indicated that receipts were added, but in fact, they are absent. The citizen did not timely provide the bank with funds to repay the debt obligation, thus violating the terms of the loan agreement," - stated PrivatBank.

What was the court's decision?

The court denied the woman’s claim. The validity of her demands was not proven by the materials.

"On October 23, 2023, the plaintiff approached the head of JSC CB 'PrivatBank' with a request for information, in which she reported the automatic deduction from her account of the debt in the amounts of 1,853 hryvnias and 19,796 hryvnias and requested a copy of the agreement under which the specified funds were deducted and the calculation of the debt. On November 21, 2023, she was informed that JSC CB 'PrivatBank' could not provide an additional copy of the loan agreement or a statement regarding the loan in a letter due to ensuring the plaintiff's safety and maintaining confidential information. She was clarified that to obtain a statement on loan agreements and copies of documents, she needs to contact the branch of JSC CB 'PrivatBank'. The case materials do not contain information that the plaintiff personally approached any branch of JSC CB 'PrivatBank' to obtain a copy of the loan agreement. A copy of the loan agreement was not attached to the case materials, which prevents the court from establishing a violation by the defendant of the Law of Ukraine 'On Consumer Rights Protection' when concluding the disputed loan agreement, which is the basis for the plaintiff's claim. Furthermore, the plaintiff did not file a motion with the court to obtain evidence, namely the materials of the loan case, which should be stored by the defendant. According to part 1 of Article 81 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, each party must prove the circumstances on which it relies as the basis for its claims or objections, except in cases provided for by this Code. Therefore, in the adversarial process, the plaintiff must prove the claims he refers to, and the court must ensure the competitiveness of the parties in the process. Since the plaintiff did not comply with the specified norm, the validity of the claims was not proven by the case materials, and the court concludes that there is a need to deny the plaintiff's claims," the court emphasized.