The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan published an explainer on when banks and microfinance organisations can transfer overdue debts to collection agencies and what rules apply to borrower interaction, including a moratorium on assigning citizens’ credit claims to collectors. Lenders must notify a borrower within 10 calendar days from the first day of payment delay and advise on restructuring. If arrears are not settled and the delay exceeds 90 days, the creditor may sell or assign the debt or place it with a collection agency for pre-trial recovery, but a two-year moratorium introduced from 1 July 2024 prohibits selling or assigning citizens’ debts to collectors until 1 May 2026; during this period, resolution is limited to restructuring, waiving fines, penalties and commissions, or pre-trial recovery without transferring the claim. After the moratorium ends, a debt may be transferred only if it is overdue by more than 24 months and the creditor has carried out settlement procedures with mandatory waiver of penalties. The explainer also summarises debtor rights to obtain information on the collection agency and the size and structure of the debt, challenge collector demands in court, choose and set a convenient method and period of interaction, and complain to the Agency, alongside obligations to update address, phone number and identity document details and engage with the collector to resolve the debt. It reiterates conduct requirements for collectors, including contact limits (weekdays 08:00–21:00, no more than three calls and three meetings per week, with no more than one meeting per day), mandatory identification on each contact, and prohibitions on misleading statements, harassment or threats, disclosure of harmful information, and accepting cash or non-cash payments or other property as repayment.

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