The translation of this document is outdated.
Translation validity: 01.01.2015.–05.03.2018.
Amendments not included:
08.02.2018.,
03.10.2019.
The Saeima1 has adopted and
the President has proclaimed the following Law:
Law On Credit Bureaus
Chapter I
General Provisions
Section 1. Terms Used in this
Law
The following terms are used in this Law:
1) credit bureau - a stock company that is carrying out
any of the activities to be licensed of a credit bureau laid down
in this Law;
2) user of credit information - a person specified in
this Law who has entered into a written agreement with a credit
bureau regarding supply of credit information to the credit
bureau or receipt thereof therefrom (hereinafter - credit
information agreement);
3) potential customer of a user of credit information
(hereinafter - potential customer) - a natural person who has
expressed an intention to become a customer of a user of credit
information in an application to the user;
4) customer of a user of credit information
(hereinafter - customer) - a natural person:
a) who has entered into a customer contract with the user of
credit information,
b) in relation to whom the user of credit information has
taken over the rights of claim arising from the customer
contract,
c) who has consented that the user of credit information may
evaluate or take into account his or her creditworthiness in
supplying a credit risk related service to any third party or in
taking a decision to supply such service;
5) credit information - information obtained from the
sources of credit information specified in this Law and
characterising creditworthiness of the customer or potential
customer;
6) customer contract is:
a) a contract according to which the user of credit
information is supplying or will supply credit risk related
service,
b) a contract according to which the user of credit
information is given a guarantee regarding liabilities of another
person,
c) the contract referred to in Sub-clause (a) or (b) of this
Clause, the rights of claim arising from which have been taken
over by the user of credit information;
7) debt - a payment obligation of the customer in
relation to the user of credit information, which has not been
settled within the time period specified in the customer contract
or laws and regulations;
8) processing of credit information - any activities
performed with credit information, including collecting,
obtaining, registration, entering, storage, arranging,
transforming, use, transfer, transmitting, disclosing, blocking
or deletion of credit information;
9) creditworthiness - the probability that a customer
or potential customer will carry out his or her obligations in
accordance with the customer contract;
10) credit risk - the probability that the user of
credit information will incur losses, if a customer or potential
customer will be unable or will refuse to carry out the payment
obligations specified in the customer contract in relation to the
user of credit information;
11) credit risk management - an aggregate of measures,
which are taken by the user of credit information during the term
of operation of a customer contract in order to control its
credit risk.
Section 2. Purpose of this Law
The purpose of this Law is to contribute to promotion of
responsible crediting and responsible and honest borrowing,
enabling the formation of personal credit history, as well as to
ensure legal protection of natural persons so that, upon
evaluating creditworthiness, true and complete information is
accessible and used.
Section 3. Scope of Application of
this Law
(1) The Law regulates the operation of credit bureaus and the
procedures for processing credit information within the scope of
activities of credit bureaus to be licensed and specified in this
Law.
(2) Processing and protection of data of a customer or
potential customer is determined by the Personal Data Protection
Law, insofar as it is not laid down otherwise in this Law.
(3) This Law shall not be applied:
1) to the databases of credit history specified in the Law On
Extrajudicial Recovery of Debt;
2) to processing of the data present in a State information
system, which is performed by the holder of such State
information system, or data processing performed by the
Saeima, a derived public person, direct administration
authority, indirect administration authority, court or a person
belonging to the judicial system, except that laid down in
Section 13 of this Law;
3) in relation to the credit register, as well as to receipt
of information from the credit register and the use thereof. The
procedures by which a user of credit information shall receive
the information included in the credit register with the
intermediation of a credit bureau, is determined by the Credit
Register Law;
4) if in accordance with other laws and regulations a user of
credit information with the intermediation of a credit bureau may
receive information from a State information system for the
purposes of processing, which are not referred to in Section 4 of
this Law. The procedures by which a user of credit information
with the intermediation of a credit bureau shall receive
information from a State information system shall be determined
in a respective regulatory enactment.
Section 4. Purposes of Processing
Credit Information
(1) A credit bureau within the scope of activities, to be
licensed and laid down in this Law, of a credit bureau shall
process credit information so that a user of credit information
could obtain and use it for the purposes of processing credit
information specified in Paragraph two of this Law.
(2) A user of credit information shall obtain credit
information from a credit bureau within the scope of activities,
to be licensed and laid down in this Law, of the credit bureau
and use it for evaluation of creditworthiness of a customer or
potential customer or for management of its credit risk.
Section 5. User of Credit
Information
A user of credit information may be:
1) a merchant;
2) a performer of professional activity within the meaning of
the Law On Personal Income Tax;
3) an individual undertaking, an agricultural farm or fish
farm, crafts undertaking or family undertaking;
4) a co-operative company;
5) a local government or its institution in case when it
enters into a credit risk related contract or supplies public
service, or ensures management of a residential house.
Section 6. Sources of Credit
Information
A credit bureau shall obtain credit information only from the
following sources of credit information:
1) from the information supplied by a user of credit
information;
2) from the information which has been obtained by the credit
bureau in accordance with the procedures laid down in this Law
from a State information system;
3) from the information regarding a customer (hereinafter -
foreign credit information), which has been received by the
credit bureau from:
a) a person registered in a European Union Member State or
Member State of the European Economic Area, whose type of
activity is personal data processing and transfer thereof to
third parties, which use such data for the evaluation of
creditworthiness or management of their credit risk,
b) a State information system of a European Union Member State
or Member State of the European Economic Area, or a database
considered as equivalent to a State information system.
Chapter II
Requirements for the Operation of a Credit Bureau
Section 7. Requirements for the
Operation of a Credit Bureau
(1) A credit bureau must have a licence in order to supply any
of the following services:
1) processing of credit information obtained regarding a
natural person in order to transfer it to third parties for the
use for any of the purposes specified in Section 4, Paragraph two
of this Law;
2) obtaining of restricted access information from a State
information system regarding a natural person upon request of
such person who has legal grounds to receive information from a
State information system, and transfer of the obtained
information to the abovementioned person for any of the purposes
specified in Section 4, Paragraph two of this Law.
(2) The requirements of Paragraph one of this Section shall
not apply to:
1) data processing of its customer or potential customer;
2) data processing of such customer or potential customer of a
merchant, with whom the person is in one group of companies.
(3) The credit bureau shall insure civil legal liability for
the performance of activities to be licensed.
(4) The credit bureau shall inform the issuer of the licence
regarding other commercial activity, which is performed by the
bureau in addition to any of the activities to be licensed.
Section 8. Licence
(1) A licence for the operation of a credit bureau
(hereinafter - licence) shall be issued by the Data State
Inspectorate for five years.
(2) The Cabinet shall determine the requirements for the
receipt of the licence, including the requirements for civil
liability insurance of a credit bureau, and the procedures for
issuing the licence, as well as the procedures for and cases of
suspending, re-registration and cancellation of the licence.
(3) The credit bureau shall pay a State fee for the issuance
and re-registration of the licence. The credit bureau shall pay
an annual State fee for the supervision of the operation of the
credit bureau. The amount and payment procedures of the State fee
shall be determined by the Cabinet.
(4) If a credit bureau terminates operation or loses the
licence, the accumulated credit information shall be deleted,
except the case when it shall be transferred to the State
archives in the amount specified in the Law or also - within the
time period stipulated by the Data State Inspectorate - to
another licensed credit bureau.
Section 9. Involvement of Other
Persons in Ensuring the Carrying out of Licensed Activities of a
Credit Bureau
(1) If a written consent of the Data State Inspectorate has
been received, a credit bureau may entrust, on the basis of a
written contract, the performance of activities to another
person, which are necessary for ensuring the carrying out of the
licensed activities of the credit bureau specified in Section 7
of this Law.
(2) After receipt of the written consent referred to in
Paragraph one of this Section the credit bureau or the other
person referred to in Paragraph one of this Section is
responsible in relation to third parties for the operation of
such person who has been entrusted the performance of the
particular activities. The Data State Inspectorate has the right
to revoke the previously given written consent, if the credit
bureau or the other person referred to in Paragraph one of this
Section does not fulfil the requirements of this Law. Contesting
or appeal of a decision of the Data State Inspectorate to revoke
the previously given written consent does not suspend the
operation thereof.
Section 10. Access to Information
Regarding Credit Bureaus
(1) The Data State Inspectorate shall publish and update the
following information regarding a credit bureau on its
website:
1) a decision to grant the licence;
2) the name of the credit bureau;
3) the registration number of the credit bureau;
4) the contact details of the credit bureau (legal address and
postal address, telephone, electronic mail address);
5) shareholders of the credit bureau whose participation in
the credit bureau is five per cent or more from the equity
capital with voting rights of the credit bureau;
6) the date of granting the licence;
7) the date of suspending or cancelling the licence.
(2) If any of the information referred to in Paragraph one,
Clause 2, 3, 4 or 5 of this Section changes, the credit bureau
shall, within three working days after changes enter into effect,
submit a submission to the Data State Inspectorate regarding
changes. The Data State Inspectorate shall, within five working
days after receipt of the submission, update the relevant
information on its website.
Chapter III
Processing of Credit Information and Time Periods for
Storage
Section 11. Inclusion of Information
Regarding Debts in the Database of the Credit Bureau
(1) A user of credit information has the right to include
information in the database of the credit bureau regarding a
debt, if one of the following conditions exists:
1) the debt is confirmed with an adjudication of a court or an
arbitration award, which has entered into effect;
2) at least 60 days have passed from the first day of late
payment, and at least 30 days - from the day when the warning
referred to in Paragraph two of this Section regarding the
relevant debt has been sent, however, the debt has not been
covered and the customer has not expressed written objections
regarding existence or amount of the debt;
3) at least 60 days have passed from the first day of late
payment, and at least 30 days - from the day when the warning
referred to in Paragraph two of this Section regarding the
relevant debt has been sent, however, the debt has not been
covered and the customer has expressed written objections
regarding existence or amount of the debt, but the user of credit
information has sent a motivated reply to the customer, issuing
copies of documents confirming the existence and amount of the
debt, and has informed him or her that information regarding the
debt will be included in the database of the credit bureau;
4) the customer has consented that the user of credit
information includes information regarding the debt of the
customer in the database of the credit bureau. Such consent of
the customer shall conform to the requirements of the Personal
Data Protection Law regarding consent of the data subject, and
the consequences of such consent are explained to the
customer.
(2) In the case referred to in Paragraph one, Clause 2 or 3 of
this Section the user of credit information shall send a warning
to the customer regarding the debt prior to inclusion of the
information regarding the debt in the database of the credit
bureau. The warning shall include information regarding whether
information regarding the debt will be transferred to the credit
bureau, and regarding the purposes for which the information
regarding the debt included in the database of the credit bureau
will be processed.
(3) In the case referred to in Paragraph one, Clause 3 of this
Section, if the user of credit information has not yet included
information regarding the debt of the customer in the database of
the credit bureau and after sending of a motived reply regarding
existence or amount of the debt to the customer has received
repeated written objections of the customer, then, upon including
information regarding the debt of the customer in the database of
the credit bureau, the user of credit information shall indicate
at least whether written objections of the customer regarding
existence or amount of the debt have been received.
(4) In the case referred to in Paragraph one, Clause 4 of this
Section information regarding the debt of the customer shall be
included in the database of the credit bureau for a time period
not exceeding 60 days from the first day of late payment. When 60
days have passed, information regarding the debt in the database
of the credit bureau shall be processed in any of the cases
referred to in Paragraph one, Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this
Section.
(5) A user of credit information shall supply the current
information regarding the debt included in the database of the
credit bureau to the credit bureau not less than once in a
quarter.
Section 12. Information to be
Included in the Database of a Credit Bureau
(1) The following information related to the debt of a
customer shall be included in the database of a credit
bureau:
1) the given name, surname and personal identity number of the
customer or other information identifying the customer;
2) information regarding the debt amount, including
information regarding the initial amount of the debt, the actual
amount of the debt and the first day of late payment;
3) the date when information regarding the debt was included
in the database of the credit bureau, and the date when
information regarding the debt was last updated;
4) information regarding the fact that the debt no longer
exists; the date since which the debt no longer exists, as well
as the way the debt was settled;
5) information regarding the user of credit information who
included information regarding the debt in the database of the
credit bureau;
6) information regarding sector of such user of credit
information, which included information regarding the debt in the
database of the credit bureau, in accordance with Regulation (EC)
No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20
December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of
economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council
Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on
specific statistical domains (Text with EEA relevance), insofar
as the description of the sector corresponds to the purpose of
processing the respective data;
7) information regarding whether a customer has expressed
written objections against the existence or amount of the debt,
including whether there is a dispute regarding the rights, which
is examined by a court, in relation to the existence or amount of
the debt.
(2) The user of credit information is entitled to include
other information not referred to in Paragraph one of this
Section in the database of the credit bureau, if such inclusion
has any of the grounds for processing personal data referred to
in the Personal Data Protection Law.
(3) The credit bureau, upon supplying information to the user
of credit information regarding credit information included by
another user of credit information, shall not indicate
information that allows to identify the user of credit
information, which included the respective information in the
database of the credit bureau.
(4) The credit bureau shall delete the information referred to
in Paragraph one, Clause 7 of this Section, if it has received an
adjudication of a court or arbitration award, which has entered
into effect and by which the debt amount is established, or a
written certification of the customer regarding withdrawal of his
or her objections.
(5) The credit bureau is entitled to determine the minimum
debt amount for each sector, from which information regarding the
debt may be included in the database of the credit bureau.
Section 13. Information from a State
Information System
(1) Upon legal request of such user of credit information,
which in accordance with the laws and regulations has the right
to receive restricted access information from a State information
system, a credit bureau shall request and receive information
from the respective State information system regarding the
customer or potential customer. The credit bureau shall not use
the received information for purposes other than transfer of such
information to the user of credit information in unchanged form
and shall not store it after transfer to the user of credit
information.
(2) The procedures by which a credit bureau shall receive
restricted access information from a State information system, as
well as the duties, rights and liability arising from processing
of such information, are determined in the Personal Data
Protection Law, the regulatory enactment governing the operation
of the respective State information system and other laws and
regulations.
(3) The credit bureau and the holder of State information
system shall enter into a contract regarding processing of
generally accessible information. The credit bureau shall
purchase a licence for re-use of information or shall obtain
generally accessible information in another way determined by the
regulatory enactment regarding the particular State information
system. The credit bureau shall process generally accessible
information for the processing purposes of credit information
specified in this Law, except the case referred to in Section 7,
Paragraph four of this Law when the credit bureau is performing
another commercial activity.
(4) If the administrator of a State information system uses a
State information system integrator, then the credit bureau is
entitled to obtain information from the respective State
information system, using the State information system integrator
in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding State
information system integrator.
Section 14. Foreign Credit
Information
(1) A credit bureau shall request foreign credit information
from a foreign source of credit information upon request of a
user of credit information.
(2) The credit bureau shall transfer, without delay, the
foreign credit information received, without changing its
content, to the user of credit information, which requested it.
The credit bureau shall not use the received information for
purposes other than transfer of such information to the user of
credit information in unchanged form and shall not store it after
transfer to the user of credit information.
(3) The credit bureau is entitled to supply credit information
to a person registered in a European Union Member State or a
Member State of the European Economic Area, whose type of
activity is personal data processing and transfer thereof to
third parties, which use such data for the evaluation of
creditworthiness or management of their credit risk, if all of
the following conditions exist:
1) the data subject has given a respective consent and it
conforms to the requirements of the Personal Data Protection Law
or another condition referred to in the Personal Data Protection
Law exists, which allows processing of personal data;
2) third parties in relation to such person registered abroad
are to be considered as users of credit information and they
comply with the requirements laid down for users of credit
information in Section 4, Paragraph two of this Law in relation
to the purpose of processing credit information;
3) the person registered in a European Union Member State or a
Member State of the European Economic Area transfers, without
delay, the credit information supplied by the credit bureau to
the third party, which requested it, and the information received
is not used for other purposes than transfer of such information
to the third party in unchanged form and they are not stored
after transfer.
Section 15. Information which is
Prohibited to be Used in Processing of Credit Information
It is prohibited to use sensitive personal data in processing
of credit information.
Section 16. Time Periods of
Storage
(1) A credit bureau shall store information related to
debts:
1) for five years from the day when the debt was settled or
from the day when debt liability has expired on other legal
grounds, or after the day when the debt has been ceded or
otherwise transferred to a person who is not another user of
credit information, but not longer than 10 years after the first
day of late payment;
2) 10 years after the first day of late payment, if the debt
is not paid.
(2) The credit bureau shall store information regarding a
request of a user of credit information for one year after the
day of receiving such request. Another time period, for which the
credit bureau shall store a request of a user of credit
information to supply information from the respective State
information system, may be determined in a regulatory enactment
governing the operation of a State information system containing
restricted access information.
(3) The credit bureau is entitled to store the information
included in the database of the credit bureau regarding payment
obligations carried out, except the information referred to in
Paragraph one of this Section and the information which may be
obtained from public or publicly available registers, until the
time when the customer is requesting that the user of credit
information deletes it and such request has been notified to the
credit bureau. The customer does not have the right to request
the deletion of such information, if the user of credit
information has legal grounds and purpose for inclusion of such
information in the database of the credit bureau.
(4) The credit bureau is entitled to store the information,
which may be obtained from public or publicly available
registers, for as long as necessary for the processing purposes
of credit information, but not exceeding the time period while
such information is accessible in the respective register.
Section 17. Processing of Credit
Information after Termination of a Credit Information
Agreement
(1) If a credit bureau or a user of credit information
unilaterally withdraws from a credit information agreement or if
a credit bureau and a user of credit information agree on
termination of the credit information agreement (hereinafter -
former user of credit information), the credit bureau shall
immediately delete credit information from the database of the
credit bureau, which was obtained from the former user of credit
information, except information regarding the debt, which the
credit bureau is entitled to store in accordance with Section 16,
Paragraph one, Clause 1 of this Law, and other information
regarding payment obligations, if the relevant debt obligation or
payment obligation has expired, while the credit information
agreement was in force.
(2) The credit bureau shall correct, update or delete the
information referred to in Paragraph one of this Section
regarding the debt in the following cases:
1) the former user of credit information and its customer or
the person who has been indicated as the customer in the database
of the credit bureau by mistake, signs a mutual certification to
the fact that information regarding the debt has been corrected
or deleted, at the credit bureau in person according to the
procedures stipulated by the credit bureau;
2) the credit bureau receives a certification from the former
user of credit information and its customer or the person who has
been indicated as the customer in the database of the credit
bureau by mistake, that information regarding the debt has been
corrected or deleted, moreover, the authenticity of the
signatures has been certified by a notary;
3) the credit bureau receives an adjudication of a court or an
arbitration award, establishing that the information included in
the database of the credit bureau have different content on its
merits;
4) the credit bureau establishes that the information included
in its database regarding the debt does not conform to the
information regarding the debt supplied by the former user of
credit information;
5) in other cases stipulated by the credit bureau according to
the procedures stipulated by such bureau.
(3) The credit bureau shall correct, update or delete the
information referred to in Paragraph one of this Section
regarding other payment obligations, which do not contain
information regarding the debt, in accordance with the
requirements of the Personal Data Protection Law in the cases and
according to the procedures stipulated by the credit bureau.
Section 18. Legal Grounds for a User
of Credit Information to Request and Receive Credit Information
from a Credit Bureau
A user of credit information is entitled to request and
receive credit information from a credit bureau, if any of the
following conditions exists:
1) the customer or potential customer has consented that the
user of credit information receives credit information. Such
consent of the customer or potential customer shall conform to
the requirements of the Personal Data Protection Law on the
consent of the data subject;
2) the right of the user of credit information to obtain
credit information arises from the customer contract;
3) another condition referred to in the Personal Data
Protection Law permits processing of personal data.
Section 19. Right of a Natural
Person to Receive Information
(1) A natural person has the right to receive credit
information, twice a year, from a credit bureau in accordance
with the Personal Data Protection Law, as well as information
regarding a user of credit information, which has used the credit
bureau in order to request and receive information from a State
information system, according to the following procedures:
1) to receive information in online mode or in person at the
credit bureau - free of charge;
2) to receive information by post - by covering the expenses
of the credit bureau for postal services according to the tariffs
of the postal service provider in accordance with the procedures
stipulated by the credit bureau.
(2) If a natural person requests the information referred to
in Paragraph one of this Section more than twice a year, he or
she has the right to receive such information according to the
procedures stipulated by the credit bureau and for the fee
stipulated by the credit bureau.
Chapter IV
Responsibility for Processing of Credit Information and
Supervision of Processing of Credit Information
Section 20. Responsibility of a
Credit Bureau
(1) A credit bureau shall be responsible for the conformity of
the information included in its database with the information
supplied by a user of credit information.
(2) The credit bureau shall not be responsible for the
completeness and veracity of such information, which has been
received by the credit bureau upon request of the user of credit
information from a State information system or from a foreign
source of credit information and, without changing its content,
has transferred it to the user of credit information.
Section 21. Responsibility of a User
of Credit Information
A user of credit information shall be responsible that it:
1) has included complete and true information in the database
of the credit bureau, which conforms to the obligations specified
in the customer contract;
2) according to the procedures stipulated by a credit bureau
and in accordance with the requirements of this Law supplies
current information to the credit bureau regarding the
information included in its database;
3) has requested credit information only in such case when
there are legal grounds for such action and the purpose for
processing personal data specified in this Law has existed.
Section 22. Correction of
Inaccuracies
(1) If a customer is of opinion that inaccurate information is
included in the database of the credit bureau, it shall submit a
written objection to the credit bureau or user of credit
information.
(2) The customer may append copies of documents justifying
objections to the written objection. If the written objection is
submitted by a person authorised by the customer, the
authorisation shall be certified notarially.
(3) If the customer submits a written objection in relation to
the information included in the database of the credit bureau by
mistake to the user of credit information:
1) the user of credit information shall examine it in
accordance with procedures laid down in the Personal Data
Protection Law and, without delay, notify the credit bureau that
an objection of the customer has been received in relation to the
particular information;
2) until a justified reply of the user of credit information
is received, the credit bureau shall make note in its database
that an objection of the customer has been received in relation
to the information included in the database;
3) the user of credit information shall, within a month after
receipt of an objection of the customer, examine it and provide a
justified reply to the customer, sending a copy of the reply also
to the credit bureau.
(4) If the customer submits a written objection in relation to
the information included in the database of the credit bureau by
mistake to the credit bureau:
1) the credit bureau shall verify whether the information
included in its database conforms to the information supplied by
the user of credit information;
2) the credit bureau shall send, without delay, a copy of the
objection to the user of credit information, if the information
included in its database conforms to the information supplied by
the user of credit information;
3) until a justified reply of the user of credit information
is received, the credit bureau shall make note in its database
that an objection of the customer has been received in relation
to the information included in the database;
4) the user of credit information shall, within a month from
the day of receipt of the request of the credit bureau, examine
the objection of the customer and provide a justified reply to
the credit bureau and the customer.
(5) If after evaluating the written objection of the customer
referred to in Paragraph four of this Section, the credit bureau
establishes that the information included in its database does
not conform to the information supplied by the user of credit
information, or if the user of credit information informs the
credit bureau that inaccurate information has been included in
its database, then the credit bureau shall correct or delete such
information and shall inform, without delay, such users of credit
information regarding correcting or deletion of such information,
to whom the credit bureau has supplied such information during
the last 12 months.
(6) If the user of credit information, having evaluated the
written objection of the customer referred to in Paragraph three
or four of this Section in relation to the information included
in the database of the credit bureau regarding the debt, informs
the customer and the credit bureau that the objection is not
justified, but the customer after receipt of the reply of the
user of credit information informs the credit bureau that it does
not agree with the reply of the user of credit information and
still is of the opinion that inaccurate information regarding the
debt has been included in the database of the credit bureau, the
credit bureau shall make a note in its database that written
objections of the customer against the existence or amount of the
debt have been received.
(7) If the user of credit information, having evaluated the
written objection of the customer referred to in Paragraph three
or four of this Section in relation to other payment obligation
that does not contain information regarding the debt, informs the
credit bureau that the objection is unjustified, but the customer
after receipt of the reply of the user of credit information does
not agree with its reply and still is of the opinion that
inaccurate information regarding the payment obligation has been
included in the database of the credit bureau, the customer has
the right, according to the rights provided for the customer in
Section 16, Paragraph three of this Law, to request that the user
of credit information deletes the respective information from the
database of the credit bureau. The customer does not have the
right to request the deletion of such information, if the user of
credit information has legal grounds and purpose for inclusion of
such information in the database of the credit bureau.
Section 23. Competence of the Data
State Inspectorate
(1) The operation of a credit bureau shall be supervised by
the Data State Inspectorate.
(2) Upon supervising the operation of a credit bureau, the
Data State Inspectorate has the following rights:
1) to take a decision to suspend or cancel the operation of
the licence;
2) to perform checks and audits at the credit bureau or with
the persons specified in Section 9 of this Law, in relation to
which the Data State Inspectorate has given a written consent for
checking the operation of the credit bureau in accordance with
the requirements of this Law and other laws and regulations;
3) to receive free of charge information and documents from
the credit bureau or the persons specified in Section 9 of this
Law, in relation to which the Data State Inspectorate has given a
written consent for checking the operation of the credit bureau
or for examination of the complaint received from a customer
regarding the operation of the credit bureau;
4) to request that the information included in the database of
the credit bureau by mistake or illegally is corrected or
deleted;
5) upon deciding on the issues referred to in this Law, to
request additional information that is necessary for taking of a
decision;
6) to request checking of the information systems, equipment
and procedures of the credit bureau and to determine an
independent expert-examination for the studying of the issues to
be checked;
7) to exercise other rights, which are provided for in the
Personal Data Protection Law to the Data State Inspectorate in
the field of personal data protection.
(3) Upon supervising the operation of a credit bureau, the
Data State Inspectorate has the following duties:
1) to supervise the conformity of the operation of the credit
bureau with the requirements of this Law and other laws and
regulations;
2) to take decisions on the operation of the credit bureau and
to examine complaints regarding the operation of the credit
bureau;
3) to impose administrative punishments for violations in
accordance with the procedures laid down in laws and
regulations;
4) to decide on transfer of the accumulated credit information
in accordance with Section 8, Paragraph four of this Law.
(4) An administrative deed issued by or an actual action of an
official of the Data State Inspectorate may be contested to the
director of the Data State Inspectorate. An administrative deed
issued by or an actual action of the director, as well as a
decision on the contested administrative deed or actual action
may be appealed to a court in accordance with the procedures laid
down in the Administrative Procedure Law.
Transitional Provisions
1. By 31 December 2014 the Cabinet shall issue the regulations
referred to in Section 8, Paragraphs two and three of this
Law.
2. A commercial company or a person who performs economic
activity and provides any of the services referred to in Section
7, Paragraph one of this Law, but does not conform to the
requirements of this Law regarding stock company as the supplier
of such services or has not received a licence, shall ensure
conformity with the respective requirements within a year after
the day of coming into force of this Law. Until the licence is
received, it is prohibited to supply the service referred to in
Section 7, Paragraph one, Clause 2 of this Law. If conformity
with the respective requirements of the law is not ensured within
a year, the commercial company or the person who performs
economic activity is prohibited to supply the service referred to
in Section 7, Paragraph one, Clause 1 of this Law.
3. The conditions of Section 11 of this Law regarding the
right of a user of a credit bureau to include information
regarding the debt in the database of the credit bureau shall
also apply to the debt, which exists on the day of coming into
force of the law.
This Law shall come into force on 1 January 2015.
This Law has been adopted by the Saeima on 18 September
2014.
President A. Bērziņš
Adopted 8 October 2014
1 The Parliament of the Republic of
Latvia
Translation © 2015 Valsts valodas centrs (State
Language Centre)