Who is responsible for debiting funds through Sberbank Online

A case was submitted to the AC of the Ural District for consideration, within the framework of which the issue of debiting funds from the debtor's account through Sberbank Online was raised. The courts of the first and appellate instance found that the bank that allowed the funds to be written off was guilty and obliged to pay damages. However, the district urged not to rush to such conclusions.

As part of the insolvency case of an individual, his financial manager asked the bank to remove the lock from the debtor's account in order to pay for the procedure. After that, more than 700,000 rubles were withdrawn, but the anti-crisis manager did not make such an order. 

Then he appealed to the court with a demand to recover the specified amount of the bank in the form of losses, referring to the fact that the incident caused harm to creditors. 

In the first and appellate instances, the requirement was satisfied, indicating that when conducting transactions through Sberbank Online, the bank, nevertheless, must fulfill its obligations.

However, the district found these arguments unconvincing. The Board noted that in order to recover losses from the bank, it was necessary to establish a number of circumstances that were not reflected in judicial acts. In particular, how and to whom was the debtor granted the right to work with Sberbank Online, and who knew the login and password from the personal account, as well as whether the bank was imprudent, whether illegal behavior was committed and whether there is a causal relationship between such behavior and losses. 

These questions now have to be answered by the court of first instance, the case has been sent for reconsideration (Resolution No. F09-9369/19 of June 14, 2022 in case No. A76-27856/2016).