Heating, water, banks and telecoms are the biggest problems of the people. This conclusion is required by the analysis of the complaints received by the Ombudsman over the past year. In recent months, Velislava Delcheva has undertaken a tour of the interior of the country to explain the introduction of the euro in the smallest settlements. The public defender asked the banks to be more flexible in serving the people.
- What conclusions can you summarize from your tour of small settlements? What do people in the villages know and what do they not know? What worries them most about the introduction of the euro?
Velislava Delcheva – National Ombudsman: "Our campaign was aimed at working primarily with the elderly and we wanted, first of all, to explain to them how the currency conversion of their pensions would take place. These were the main questions that were asked to the experts from the Ombudsman's institution, as well as the experts from the National Social Security Institute, with whom we conducted this campaign. One of the main concerns was how they would calculate the change in the period from January 1 to February 1, especially when they pay in Bulgarian leva and the change should be returned to them in euros. Together, thanks to the BNB and the Ministry of Finance, we managed to distribute information materials and to explain to the elderly how to make this calculation most easily. In fact, we provided brochures or leaflets, a very simple table that they can use when they go to the store and estimate when they should be given change of 2 leva, in fact how many euros they should get back."
- These brochures, do people actually understand them, did they help them?
Velislava Delcheva: "They were very easily written and since they were in the form of a table, they were very easy to use. I used my mother as a model for this table and she managed to do it. One of the main pieces of advice that we gave to the elderly is to use them when they feel, of course, comfortable using bank cards, in order to avoid that very moment when they should get change, to count. People who work in small retail outlets are also worried about how they will calculate this change, not to be accused of intentional fraud. So, there are some concerns on both sides."
- What we see now in our reports, especially at the end of the weekends, is that in small settlements, even in commercial establishments, the so-called starter packages are not enough and people are worried that they do not have money to return in euros. What is your recommendation to banks, because obviously where there are no bank branches, access is more difficult?
Velislava Delcheva: "Yes, we have received signals even from traders who cannot obtain starter packages. And even before the New Year, one of the experts who works in our institution came one day and said: Madam Ombudsman, there is a problem with starter packages, because they could only buy such a package from a bank of which they are a client. And there was no possibility to buy a starter package, like giving cash, Bulgarian leva in cash. This could only happen through a bank account, through a bank account, which entailed bank rates and fees. We made a recommendation to the Bulgarian National Bank to pass on the relevant instruction to the banks and I must say that some of them complied. At the moment, I think this problem does not exist."
- Since we are on the subject of banks, in fact, the complaints you receive during the year have also raised another problem for you - these are the seizures imposed by private bailiffs on debtors… There is a non-sequestrable part that remains available in people's bank accounts, but these people cannot use their money through bank cards, they must necessarily go to a bank counter to withdraw it. In small settlements this is a problem, because sometimes bank branches are more than 10, 20, 30 km from the settlement…
Velislava Delcheva: "And this is especially difficult for the elderly. It is especially difficult for those people who are not mobile, who need additional assistance. At the moment when you rely solely on this amount, which is the amount of the minimum wage, and you have to give money to go to another city to use this amount, this creates additional inconvenience for citizens. And in this sense, we have already sent a recommendation to the Association of Banks to think about an option where this amount can be withdrawn through an ATM through bank cards, so that people do not have to travel to the nearest bank branch."
- How do banks react to your recommendations?
Velislava Delcheva: "We are confident that at the beginning of the year they will do everything possible to resolve this problem. I will do everything possible to ensure that this happens."
- Has the time come for changes in judicial enforcement and will you talk to the parliament about such legal changes?
Velislava Delcheva: "We have already held talks with the Chamber of Private Enforcement Agents and this is especially true in cases of so-called small utility payments - to telecoms, small household bills related to water payments, for example, where compulsory judicial enforcement creates additional costs and in some cases, even increases the debtors' expenses several times. Voluntary performance is in all cases the best way to pay off certain obligations, so we will do everything possible and I will make a commitment next year to talk to members of parliament, to parliament, to take steps in this direction."
- Another problem, which is also related to banks, is the eternal presence in the Central Credit Register of people who have taken out quick loans, and then the contracts were declared null and void. How should this problem be solved, what are your recommendations that you give, because this actually stops the turnover, these people cannot even take out regular loans?
Velislava Delcheva: "This problem has already been solved to a large extent, since Regulation No. 9, which is responsible for how the data, the information in the Central Credit Register is filled in, has already been amended by the BNB and these amendments will come into force in February of this year, which means that in cases where such contracts have been declared null and void by court order and only in this case, the person who is a debtor will have the opportunity to contact the BNB and simply request that this list be removed. We had complaints and signals about such quick loan companies that refused last year to remove such debtors from the credit register and in fact this required us to have several conversations with the deputy governor of the BNB and so they reacted very quickly. The regulation was adopted at the end of the year and will come into force in February."
- However, you receive the most complaints about heating and water. What does the analysis show in general? What problems do people complain about and how should the district heating and water supply companies solve them?
Velislava Delcheva: "Every year the same problems related to the quality of service provision are repeated. When we talk about "Toplofikatsiya" of course the repair that the capital"Toplofikatsiya" undertook was the catalyst for the many complaints we have in connection with "Toplofikatsiya" - over 700. Within just two days, when this repair in "Druzhba" was announced, we received about over 200 complaints. Regarding water supply, because of the dry year and the dry water regime in Pleven, of course, this contributed a lot to the increase in complaints in this direction. There are about 570 complaints regarding water supply this year, but there are several things that can be done here to avoid these things for next year. First of all, the law on water supply - it is good to be adopted by the parliament. There we have several recommendations that the members of parliament took into account, related to imposing compensations on citizens when there is poor water quality, to fine the relevant operators when they do not implement investment plans, to discipline them. And last but not least, one of the recommendations that was also taken into account is not to impose a "water meter" fee, which would also make it difficult for households that had to pay this fee."
- Obviously, we are heading towards early elections. All parliamentary groups stated in the consultations with the head of state that they do not wish to and have no participation in forming a government. This raises the question of the caretaker prime minister. You are on this list. What will be your response to the head of state if he suggests you become caretaker prime minister?
Velislava Delcheva: "I have already stated many times that I would not agree with this position, for the same reasons that I have mentioned so far, but here I want to add something else. The Bulgarian Ombudsman has an A status at the international level, i.e. this status shows that the institution of the Ombudsman corresponds to the highest international principles that are respected and monitored by the UN. In November I was in Geneva, where I managed to successfully defend this A status and it was confirmed. It is implemented every five years. We received re-accreditation. A few days before Christmas we received the official letter from the International Association of National Institutions for the Protection of Human Rights, where we were notified that in fact we have been re-accredited with this status. But this status, besides enabling the Bulgarian Ombudsman to defend human rights at the highest international level, having in mind the UN human rights committees, as well as the Human Rights Council, it obliges to observe several basic principles, and one of them is independence. When I was in Geneva, the first question I was asked was how the independence of the Ombudsman institution would be guaranteed. He has a completely different function. This would greatly undermine his independence, since changing roles for a certain period of time would not help, but rather would put the Ombudsman in a conflict of interest. This is one of the recommendations that we have in this letter."