The previously suspended tax garnishments are reactivated, based on the applicable legislative provisions. BT Recommendations for Clients

In order to comply with the incident legislation, Banca Transilvania is forced to reactivate the tax garnishments previously temporarily suspended by the public authorities, as a result of the adverse effects of the pandemic situation. The initial decision to postpone the forced executions was taken by the Romanian Government in March this year, by adopting the Emergency Ordinance no. 29/2020, and subsequently the postponement ordered was extended until 25.12.2020, according to the provisions of the Emergency Ordinance no. 181/2020. However, this deadline has recently expired, so BT has been legally obliged to reactivate tax garnishments.

Garnishments, for everybody's understanding:

• The bank blocks a client's account based on a mandatory official order received from an institution (such as, for example, ANAF or bailiffs) and not on its own initiative.
• The bank is legally obliged to implement the garnishment ordered, along with blocking the amounts in the accounts within the limit of the garnishment value, which unfortunately puts the client in the regrettable situation of not being able to access a part of the amounts existing in the account.
• But there are also a number of exceptions: allowances and other allowances for children, maternity aid, scholarships, daily allowances and death grants are exempted from garnishment.

Access to the existing amounts in the account for clients with a garnished account:

• If it is a single garnishment, and the client receives the salary through the bank, it is obliged to retain 1/3 of the value of the net monthly salary. If several garnishments are instituted on the account, the bank must retain 1/2 of the value of the net monthly salary received. However, the difference can be used for payments and cash withdrawals, and the client thus has access to a part of the money.
• It can make the rollover on the BT credit card if it is blocked due to garnishment. Basically, it can deposit money, but it cannot withdraw amounts or operate transactions until the garnishment is paid in full.

BT recommendations for clients with a garnished account to help us unblock the account:

• If you need more details, the colleagues from the Call Center (0264 30 80 28, contact@btrl.ro) are at your disposal. The alternatives are the units of the bank or the institution that issued the garnishment.
• You can request the unblocking of the legal quota of the monthly salary (2/3 or 1/2) through the Livia chatbot from BT, by calling this phone number: 0264 30 80 28/key 0.