Cyprus might be facing a penalty of 7.000 euro per day by the European Commission because it has failed so far to incorporate into national law an EU directive on out of court settlements, the Legal Office of the Republic informed the House Finance Committee on Monday.

Article 39 of the Directive provides that consumers have the right to file a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman against a creditor or a credit intermediary. There is no limit to the complaints as regards the amount, but they have to cover housing loans only.

The House Finance Committee heard by the Ministry of Finance that the bill with the new article should have been passed in January 2017. A Spokesman of the Finance Ministry urged the House to vote before the Parliament closes for the summer recess.

Demetris Lysandrou of the Law Office of the Republic told the Committee that the European Commission has decided to take Cyprus to court and request a daily fine of €7,000 until the island complies.

It was said before the Committee that the bill that covers the responsibilities of the Financial Ombudsman is expected to be submitted to the Cabinet for approval. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Financial Ombudsman Marios Nikolaou pointed out that the increase in the limits for complaints affects the volume of the work of officials, adding that the Body should not substitute the Courts. He also said that soon a total of seven officials will be hired.