A few days ago La Stampa had reported a problem with postal savings bonds expired during the Covid emergency: many savers have discovered that they have become bad debts, even if a decree had established otherwise. The banking and financial Arbitrator, called to rule, had repeatedly agreed with the Post Office that distribute the Coupons on behalf of the CDP, however in two measures the same Arbitrator had raised a doubt that left room for legal disputes. Now there is a new fact: the Antitrust has imposed a fine of 1.4 million euros on Poste Italiane SpA “in relation to its placement and management of postal savings bonds”.
We literally quote the most important paragraph of the sentence: “According to the Authority, Poste Italiane has omitted and / or misleadingly formulated essential information relating to the expiry and limitation periods of these securities. In fact, the legislation provides that the rights of the holders of Postal Interest Bonds lapse after ten years from the expiry date of the voucher, with the consequence that neither the capital nor the interest are more due (…) The conduct of Poste was therefore deemed capable of misleading the consumer as regards the exercise of credit rights relating to the signed voucher. The Authority also ascertained that, with regard to paper securities that have lapsed in at least the last five years, Poste has failed to inform in advance – and in an adequate manner – the holders of Coupons close to the expiry of the limitation period, causing the non-repayment of the related amounts. It was considered that this conduct violates the duties of professional diligence reasonably payable by Poste on the basis of the general principles of correctness and good faith and that it is capable of altering the economic behavior of the consumer in relation to the exercise of credit rights relating to the Coupons. “.
However, the Antitrust does not exist to give fines but to correct the wrong behavior. He noted that during the procedure, the Poste company “implemented various initiatives to improve the information provided to consumers on the expiry and prescription terms of Postal Savings Vouchers, including changes to the pre-contractual and contractual documentation, the inclusion in the paper form of the Voucher, a wording that reminds the possibility of obtaining the reimbursement of the security only within the relative prescription period and an individual alerting system on the expiration and prescription dates for subscribers of Vouchers issued from 1 January 2009. Precisely considering these initiatives in favor of consumers, the Authority has decided to reduce the amount of the fine by 60% ”.