Personal loan cases in courts accounted for 80 percent of all court cases in the last six months.

Courts Kingdom-wide have received 2,641 cases related to defaulters of personal loans filed by banks, firms and finance agencies, Al-Watan daily said quoting informed sources.

According to the sources, Riyadh topped other regions with having the highest number of personal loan cases at 1,330, followed by Jeddah (489), Madinah (353), Dammam (245), Tabuk (225), and Makkah (219).

Lawyer Thamir Al-Sakakir attributed the rising rates of loan-defaulting cases to the growth of installment firms which used to provide loans to individuals without paying attention to their financial obligations to other parties.

Earlier, a source in the Ministry of Justice said courts Kingdom-wide have ordered debtors to repay a total of SR51 billion in claims to creditors in the last 18 months. The money lenders (creditors) had filed more than 166,000 claims to get back their funds through courts, the source said.

Those who refuse to comply with court orders face penalties including seizure of money, imprisonment, ban from travel, or suspension of electricity services, which are all decided by judges, the source said.

Judicial rulings are normally related to unpaid checks, notes and bonds and a variety of funds, including fixed and movable properties.