Lithuania - The new edition of the Law on Payments of the Republic of Lithuania

The new edition of the Law on Payments of the Republic of Lithuania was adopted on 10 December 2009 (came into force on 28 December 2009). The Law transposes provisions of the Directive 2007/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on payment services in the internal market amending Directives 97/7/EC, 2002/65/EC, 2005/60/EC and 2006/48/EC and repealing Directive 97/5/EC. The Law on Payments provides for the detailed and exhaustive list of payment services including not only money transaction but also the services that enable to pay in money or to withdraw them from the bank account, and all operations related to management of bank account, financial instruments (e.g payment cards), etc. The Law on Payments establishes liability for the infringements of the legal requirements and complaint handling procedure. The State Consumer Rights Protection Authority is designated for settlement  of consumer complaints (requests). The decisions of the Authority are binding. The penalties imposed for infringements of the Law are from 1000 LTL 30,000, and the maximum penalty LTL 120,000. It should be noted that there were no such provisions in the former Law on Payments, and the decisions of the Authority were not binding. It is expected that the new provisions will ensure efficient enforcement of the Law on Payments and high level of consumer protection.