In Uzbekistan, loan advertising must now include a warning about financial risks

The law has been signed: risk warnings are now mandatory

On November 10, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed law ZRU-1187, which introduces amendments to the law Spot.uz. The document passed its first and second readings in the Legislative Chamber in March and received Senate approval in August. Now advertising for loans, including microloans, must warn that failure to fulfill obligations under them may entail financial risks for the consumer.

Requirements for the format of the warning

According to the amendments, the warning text must occupy at least 10% of printed or graphic advertising; for audio and video materials, the duration of the warning must also be no less than 10%. Daryo.uz clarifies that this refers to a share of the main area of the advertising material or the duration of the commercial. During consideration of the amendments in the Senate, the need to improve financial literacy among citizens and businesses was noted: for this purpose, information aimed at improving it is planned to be classified as social information.

How requirements have changed since 2025

The initiative had been discussed for a long time: back in September 2025, Bahodir Mirzayev, head of the Central Bank's Consumer Rights Protection Service for Banking Services, announced plans to introduce mandatory warnings in loan advertising. In July 2026, the president signed a resolutionunder which advertising of loans and installment plans for individuals must include information about overpayment and the final cost of goods and services; guarantees of future returns on financial services are also prohibited if the return cannot be determined at the time of concluding the contract, and warning texts are added to microloan agreements. At the end of September, the Central Bank approved requirements for loan advertising and bank contracts: the warning must also be placed on the first page of the loan agreement before the beginning of its text, occupying at least 30% of the main area of the page, including in graphic or infographic form while preserving the full content. The Ministry of Justice registered this Central Bank resolution on September 30. Thus, the new law enshrines at the legislative level what had already been in effect for banks at the level of the regulator's acts, and extends the requirement to all advertising of loans and microloans.

Context

The Competition Committee previously noted that in advertising of loans and microloans, the main emphasis is placed on the ability to quickly and easily obtain a loan, while potential financial risks are insufficiently highlighted, which can lead to financial difficulties for citizens. Separately, Spot reported that from 2027 the Central Bank will restrict automatic debits of loan payments.