The Paraná State Court ordered Banco BMG to pay compensation in the amount of R$ 500,000 for collective moral damages. The state attorney general’s office, author of the overall civil lawsuit, cited abusive practices in offering credit cards to consumers, especially seniors in vulnerable situations.
In the ruling, Judge Bruna Richa Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, of the Fourth Civil Court of Curitiba, recognized that the financial institution repeatedly misled consumers “through confusing contracts, misleading advertising and the absence of clear information about the risks of contracting.”
According to her, this amounts to “the basic values of society, such as trust in consumer relationships and the protection of consumers’ dignity.”
When contacted on Monday (10), BMG said it was “carefully monitoring the applicable legal and regulatory provisions relating to the availability of its freight products”.
The bank adds that it will file an appeal against the ruling, and confirms that “there is no final judicial decision in this matter.”
According to the ruling signed on October 14, the compensation amount will be returned to the Fund for the Defense of Pervasive Rights.
The basis used by the Defender’s Office to propose the action was a report from Procon (State Coordination for Consumer Protection and Defense) which collected 196 complaints against the bank from consumers living in Paraná alone.
In the same decision, the judge also declared invalid credit card contracts signed “without the proper expression of will.” It also identifies contract amendments that have “consent defects,” when there is no clarity on what is being signed.
But the judge said that individual moral damage could not be referred to in this procedure. She remembers that consumers are affected in different ways, which requires specific analysis for each case. The judge notes that “every claim for compensation for individual moral injury must be settled in specific procedures.”
As it appears from Bound Last month, BMG confirmed that it had signed a period of commitment with the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) to adapt its practices and prevent new violations against consumers.
In addition to assuming a series of obligations, the bank agreed to return more than R$7 million owed by 100,000 social security beneficiaries.
About The Author
