People who fail to pay their telecommunication bills on time will soon be unable to obtain bank loans, under a draft law prepared by the Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) party, Het Laatste Nieuws and De Morgen newspapers reported on Monday. According to the National Bank of Belgium (BNB), telecoms arrears are the first sign that individuals will be unable to pay their mortgages or consumer loans. People who fail to honour their telephone, Internet or digital phone bills have a 10-times higher risk than others of having debt problems later.
For this reason, the CD&V wishes to see telecoms debts registered at the Central Individual Credit Register so that such consumers are no longer eligible for bank loans.
“The problem is that we do not currently have an overview of telecoms debts,” said CD&V parliamentarian Leen Dierick. “This information on persistent delays in paying telecoms bills can serve to reveal individuals’ credit risks.”
The Brussels Times
