Anyone recovering a contractual claim in their own name or for a creditor must not visit a consumer or their close persons at home or work without prior express consent. Contact or harassment of any kind is prohibited on Saturdays, days of rest and, on other days, between 18:00 and 08:00 the next day. These prohibitions do not apply to the professional activities of enforcement officers, lawyers and notaries.
What the law prohibits
Section 13 of Act No. 108/2024 Coll. on Consumer Protection specifically addresses prohibited debt recovery practices. It applies to anyone recovering a contractual claim in their own name or on a creditor’s behalf, including online shops, telecom operators, energy suppliers, collection agencies and debt purchasers, as well as consumer credit providers.
When asserting or recovering a claim, such a person must not:
- Personally visit the consumer or their close persons at home or work without the consumer’s prior express consent.
- Contact or harass in any way the consumer or their close persons on Saturdays, days of rest or, on other days, between 18:00 and 08:00 the following day.
The prohibition protects close persons as well as the debtor, and makes no distinction between calls, messages and visits.
Do not overlook automated channels
This is the most common practical failure, often without bad intent. SMS gateways, email campaigns, automated calls and chatbots send according to settings nobody has checked against this rule. A system sending reminders at seven in the morning or on Saturday afternoon breaches the prohibition just as a human caller would.
A process review must therefore examine time windows across all channels, not only staff activity.
Other duties of the same person
A person recovering debts is also subject to selected basic trader prohibitions under Section 4(2) of Act No. 108/2024 Coll., particularly against unfair commercial practices, unfair contract terms, denying consumer rights and conduct contrary to good morals.
Costs are separately regulated: consumers may be required to reimburse only costs reasonably and actually incurred in asserting or recovering the claim. The calculation is provided free of charge, and its method must be explained on the consumer’s request.
The exception for lawyers, enforcement officers and notaries
The above prohibitions do not apply to the professional activities of judicial enforcement officers, lawyers and notaries (Section 13(4)).
This is not a loophole. The creditor remains bound by the general prohibition on unfair and aggressive commercial practices and the duty not to act contrary to good morals. For entities supervised by the National Bank of Slovakia, representation by a lawyer or another entity in debt management and recovery is also delegated activity subject to supervision, for which the creditor bears administrative liability.
Business-to-business relations are different
These rules protect consumers, individuals acting outside their business. They do not apply to recovery against another business, where ordinary civil and commercial law and, where relevant, unfair competition rules govern.
Our debt recovery audit and reminder system service configures a compliant process. See also what a payment demand must contain.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 9 August 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.
