Effectiveness of Bankruptcy Proceedings Conducted via the National Register of Debtors Portal in Relation to Households

Abstract Subject and purpose of work The aim of this article is to describe the effectiveness of consumer bankruptcy proceedings conducted remotely via the National Register of Debtors. The digitization of bankruptcy procedures should allow debtors to declare bankruptcy faster and more efficiently and lead to an effective reduction in the number of insolvent consumers and the scale of indebtedness; however, the number of insolvent consumers is still high. Materials and methods In that article, analysis is based on critical analysis of the literature, scientific analysis of data on bankruptcy proceedings, the number of over-indebted consumers, the value of their debt, and the relation of consumer debt to GDP and shaping of “grey zone”. Results Digitization of bankruptcy proceedings has increased the effectiveness of this procedure because the vast majority of applicants are able to declare bankruptcy, and the duration of the proceedings has also been shortened, but almost 2.7 million people remain insolvent, and the value of consumer debt has been constantly increasing. Conclusions Online bankruptcy procedures are not able to effectively reduce the phenomenon of household insolvency, which is one of the most important socio-economic challenges. Technological solutions have brought the expected results, but the bankruptcy procedure, despite its numerous liberalizations in recent years, did not reduce the number of over-indebted people and the value of their debt.