Foundation for Access to Rights - FAR has won a key case on refugees' access to payment services, also guaranteed by Directive 2014/92/EU. 

FAR's lawyers assisted a person with granted humanitarian status in their appeal against a bank's refusal to consider an application for a basic payment account under the Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems (LPSPS).

Our arguments that the absence of a decision within the statutory 10-day period leads to the formation of an implicit refusal, which can be appealed under the Code of Administrative Procedure (CAP), were accepted by the Administrative Court of Sofia-city (ACS) and the Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria (SAC).

In the Decision No. 11117/05.12.2022 in Administrative Case No. 2930/2022 of the SAC the following is stated: "The court of first instance has reasonably held that in view of the nature of the regulated public relations and under the express provision of Article 119, paragraph 6 of the LPSPS, the referred bank is obliged to issue a reasoned written decision on the application. It is obliged to examine the application by collecting the relevant evidence, considering the relevant statutory grounds and, depending thereon, to open an account or to issue a reasoned written refusal of which it must notify the person. It is correct to conclude that the bank did not act within the time prescribed by law despite the obligation imposed on it by law, and that the implied refusal formed is therefore unlawful... It is inadmissible for the authority to state its reasons for refusal and to conduct proof of the facts and circumstances which it considers relevant only in court proceedings. It is obliged by law to do so in a reasoned written decision". 

As a result of winning the case, the bank is obliged to rule on the application in a reasoned written decision.