Taiwan Expands Consumer Protection Rules for Leasing Firms as Complaints Rise

Taiwan’s financing and leasing companies provide installment credit for vehicles and consumer goods but have historically operated outside the full regulatory framework applied to banks. That gap has left borrowers with fewer protections in disputes involving contract cancellation, defective products and debt collection. The Financial Supervisory Commission is bringing the sector under the Financial Consumer Protection Act in three stages to strengthen disclosure, contract fairness and complaint handling.

The FSC’s third and final phase will add 12 financing and leasing companies on Sept. 15, 2026, bringing the total covered by the law to 38. The regulator is targeting opaque interest rates and fees, financing that exceeds a customer’s needs or repayment capacity, and improper collection practices. Covered firms will also be required to establish clearer procedures for resolving cancellations and disputes tied to defective goods.

Financing and leasing companies were previously not subject to comprehensive financial regulation, and installment plans for consumer goods and financing for cars and motorcycles often generated disputes over interest rates, fees, contract termination and debt collection. Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission has therefore brought the industry under the Financial Consumer Protection Act in three phases, requiring disclosure of annual percentage rates and penalties for breach of contract. Violations are punishable by fines of up to NT$10 million, while consumers may also seek redress through the Financial Ombudsman Institution.

The first phase covered 13 companies from September 15, 2025, and another 13 joined the second phase on March 15, 2026. The third phase is scheduled to bring the remaining 13 members of the Taipei Leasing Association under the law on September 15, 2026, taking the three-phase total to 39 companies. By the end of May 2026, the Financial Ombudsman Institution had received 146 complaints, indicating that disputes involving installment plans, contract termination and marketing now have a formal channel for resolution.

Taiwan brought financing-leasing companies under the Financial Consumer Protection Act in stages from Sept. 15, 2025, following disputes over installment plans, vehicle-backed financing, opaque charges and debt collection. The Financial Supervisory Commission’s rules require covered firms to disclose annual interest rates and total annual percentage costs, conduct know-your-customer checks and explain fees and penalties. Individual customers can also seek redress through the Financial Ombudsman Institution, extending protections previously associated mainly with regulated financial institutions.

The ombudsman received 86 complaints involving financing-leasing companies from mid-September through March 31, 2026, with 61 cases resolved and only two proceeding to formal review. Complaints mainly concerned deferred-payment goods or services and marketing practices. Leasing firms pay NT$20,000 for a review decision wholly or partly favoring a consumer, and NT$8,000 when a case is withdrawn, settled or decided entirely against the applicant. The fee structure gives companies an incentive to resolve disputes earlier and strengthen frontline complaint handling and disclosure.