On Oct. 12, Thai CB issued two regulations governing vehicle financing.
Thai CB issued Cir 6417/2569, introducing two notifications, namely 51/2569, 52/2569, governing automobile and motorcycle hire-purchase and leasing businesses.
Follows Thai CB Sep. 2025 issued proposals re vehicle hire purchase, leasing, #270160.
Notification 51/2569
Thai CB sets maximum annual effective interest rates of 10% for new cars, 15% for used cars, and 23% for motorcycles under personal-use hire-purchase agreements.
Specialized financial institutions must charge fair, cost-based fees and disclose interest rates, service charges, and penalties transparently.
Institutions must provide individual hire-purchase customers with repayment schedules detailing installments, principal, interest, taxes, and outstanding balances.
Customers settling personal-use hire-purchase agreements early must receive discounts of at least 60%, 70%, or 100% of unearned interest, depending on installments completed.
Default interest on personal-use vehicle hire-purchase agreements is capped at 5% annually, with repayments generally allocated to the oldest overdue installments first.
Institutions must disclose early termination conditions and fairly manage vehicle sales, returning any surplus proceeds to customers.
Institutions must comply with Thai CB requirements on fair market conduct, responsible lending, and outsourcing arrangements.
Notification 52/2569
The notification amends Thai CB Nt 9/2563, as previously amended by Nt 56/2568.
Thai CB revises the definition of installment loans to clarify the treatment of automobile and motorcycle hire-purchase and leasing agreements.
Thai CB excludes vehicle hire-purchase and leasing agreements governed by separate BOT regulations from the general definition of installment loans.
The amended framework covers financial institutions, relevant financial group companies, specialized financial institutions, asset management companies, and regulated nonbank lenders.
Effectiveness
The notifications are effective from Nov. 1, 2026.
Regulators
Thai CB
Entity Types
Bank; CNSM; Inv Co; MSB
Reference
Cir 6417/2569, 10/12/2026; Nt 51/2569, 52/2569, 10/7/2026;
