UAE: Bank ordered to pay Dh159,000 to customer for charging exorbitant interest on credit card

A bank in the UAE has been instructed to pay Dh159,000 to its customer for charging her high and unreasonable interest on a credit card for a long period of time.

The Abu Dhabi Civil Court of Appeal upheld an earlier ruling by the Court of First Instance which issued a verdict ordering the bank to pay the amount to the customer for taking huge interest from her.

The woman explained in her lawsuit that the bank had granted her a credit card of visa type with a credit limit of Dh46,000.

The woman said the bank handed her the credit card, but she did not receive the card account statement for a long period of time since she started using the credit card.

According to the expert advisory report which she attached to her claim, the woman had made the first deposit of purchases on the credit card 10 years ago. The purchases and deposits then continued reaching a total of Dh270,000. According to the report, the total amount that was withdrawn by the woman was Dh123,000 and the total compound interest and non-agreed fines calculated from the bank amounted to Dh170,000.

In her lawsuit, the client demanded that the bank pay Dh133,000 and the legal interest at 5 percent from the date of the claim until full payment.

A report issued by a banking expert assigned by the court prompted the woman’s lawyer to demand that the bank be obliged to pay Dh159,000 to his client, instead of Dh133,000 she had earlier demanded, and to return the guarantee cheque to his client or provide her with a clearance.

The Court of First Instance had earlier issued a ruling ordering the bank to pay Dh159,000 to the woman with delayed interest at 1 per cent annually from the date of filing the lawsuit until full payment and not exceeding the principal of the debt.

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