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Indecopi’s preliminary investigation to BCP

9 August, 2024

Problems in BCP’s payment channels

Banco de Crédito del Perú (BCP) will face a preliminary investigation by the Instituto Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia y de la Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual (Indecopi) due to a crash in its systems occurred on Tuesday, July 30, which prevented users from using the corresponding payment channels.  

Investigation by Indecopi

The Technical Secretariat of the Consumer Protection Commission No. 3 of the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property initiated this investigation. If indications of violations to the Code of Consumer Protection and Defense are found, an administrative sanctioning procedure will be opened. If the alleged infringements are confirmed, sanctions and corrective measures will be imposed in favor of the affected parties.  

Exhortation to companies

Indecopi issued a communiqué urging companies to take the necessary actions to reduce the occurrence of errors or operational defects in their systems. The purpose is to evaluate possible infringements to the Consumer Protection and Defense Code.  

Clear and timely communication

The communiqué also stresses the importance of informing users in a clear and timely manner about any inconvenience and to reverse the effects caused quickly. Any circumstance that affects the information and availability of funds in the accounts, as well as the normal use of the contracted services, may be considered a breach of the duty of suitability that providers must guarantee.  

Background and sanctions

Since 2018, the Commission has sanctioned banks that breached the suitability duty by presenting operational problems in their systems, affecting the service and available balance of consumers. As was the operational failure occurred in Interbank’s systems in September 2023, which momentarily affected the balance available in the users’ account, which led to a sanction against said bank, for breach of the duty of information and suitability.  

Source: El Comercio 08/07/2024