The bank was unable to assess Ms. Ngoc's income to approve the debt restructuring document. Therefore, Ms. Ngoc's debt has become bad debt. After Ho Chi Minh City ended the blockade, Ms. Ngoc arranged to pay all overdue principal/interest and made an application to be transferred to group 1, erasing bad debt history. However, she was notified by the bank that she was ineligible because her loan was disbursed before June 10, 2020.

Information about her bad debt history greatly affects her future business. Ms. Ngoc asked the authorities to guide how to handle force majeure cases during the epidemic period.

The State Bank of Vietnam responded to this issue as follows:

Clause 1, Article 7 of the 2010 Law on Credit Institutions stipulates:

"Article 7. Autonomy to operate

1. Credit institutions, foreign bank branches have the right to autonomy in business activities and take responsibility for their own business results. No organization or individual is allowed to illegally interfere in the business activities of credit institutions and foreign bank branches”.

Circular No. 03/2013/TT-NHNN dated January 28, 2013 regulating credit information activities of the State Bank, stipulated in a number of articles

Clause 8, Article 3 of Circular No. 03/2013/TT-NHNN dated January 28, 2013 regulating credit information activities of the State Bank, explains the terms:

“Organizations that voluntarily participate in the credit information system (hereinafter referred to as voluntary organizations) include:

a) Vietnam Development Bank, debt trading companies, debt management and asset exploitation companies, credit information companies, insurance and securities service businesses;

b) Domestic and foreign organizations participating in credit financing in Vietnam or wishing to extend credit to overseas Vietnamese organizations and individuals;

c) Other organizations that wish to participate in the credit information system and are approved by the CIC.

- Clause 2, Article 7 of Circular No. 03/2013/TT-NHNN on providing credit information stipulates:

"2. The organization voluntarily provides CIC with all or part of the credit information indicator system specified in the Appendix to this Circular on the basis of an agreement with CIC, ensuring safety principles, confidentiality and other provisions of the law".

According to the provisions of Article 9 of Circular No. 03/2013/TT-NHNN on handling, storage and security of credit information data

"1. On the basis of information received, CIC uses technological and professional solutions to process credit information data, including the stages of receiving, standardizing, cleaning, pairing and updating credit information. National Credit Information Database.

… 3. The processing and storage of credit information data must ensure the integrity, completeness, and not be misleading information during processing, storage and extraction upon request.

4. Credit information data must be kept confidential, ensuring that it is not infiltrated contrary to the provisions of this Circular and other provisions of law.

Article 15 of Circular No. 03/2013/TT-NHNN stipulating the rights and obligations of organizations voluntarily participating in the credit information system:

"1. Provide and take responsibility for the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of credit information in accordance with the law and commitments with CIC.

2. Check, verify, and adjust erroneous data at the request of CIC, borrowers or when errors are detected.

Article 18 of Circular No. 03/2013/TT-NHNN on complaint settlement:

"1. In case a borrower discovers that his or her credit information is incorrect, the borrower has the right to lodge a complaint with CIC, a credit institution, a foreign bank branch or a voluntary organization (hereinafter below). called the complaint-receiving organization) to request inspection and correction of information, but must not take advantage of untruthful complaints.

Complaints can be made electronically or sent in writing, in which the reason must be clearly stated, enclosed with documents and information to prove that the data is erroneous.

2. Within 5 working days after receiving the complaint, the complaint-receiving organization must notify the borrower. In case additional information is required to have a basis for verification and settlement, the complaint-receiving organization must notify the borrower to provide relevant information and documents.

3. Within 10 working days from the date of receipt of a valid complaint, the complaint-receiving organization must review and correct the erroneous data and notify the borrower. In case it is necessary to inspect and verify the complaint contents at relevant agencies and organizations, the complaint-receiving organization may extend the complaint settlement time according to the actual situation, but must notify the borrower about the reason for the extension of time.

4. In case credit information is erroneous to the detriment of the borrower, CIC must send a notice of error correction to the user unit. Upon receiving the error correction notice, the user unit must review the credit granting decision.

5. Within 2 working days after receiving the complaint settlement result, the complaint-receiving organization must notify the borrower of the complaint settlement result.

The handling competence of CIC receives information, reviews it if it detects or suspects that the data contains errors, CIC cooperates with credit institutions, foreign bank branches, voluntary organizations to consider and adjust edit data. Voluntary organizations are responsible for providing and are responsible for the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of information according to the appendix attached to this Circular.

Therefore, the information about the accuracy of the credit contract, the classification of the customer's debt, is under the jurisdiction of the credit institution where the loan is made.

The application to remove the bad debt history belongs to the authority of the credit institution from which the loan originated.

In case of disagreement with the settlement result of the citizen credit institution, the citizen may initiate a lawsuit at the competent people's court according to the order of civil procedures.