Tashkent Interdistrict Economic Court has declared fintech company Humans LLC bankrupt. The move was made at the request of Octobank. Liquidation proceedings have been initiated.

The court order permits the consumer super-app enterprise to continue with its operations. It was issued as far back as October 14, but was only widely reported this week.

Commenting on the outcome of the hearing, Central Asia blog Havli said: "At its peak, the platform reported more than two million users across telecom, payments and e-commerce services, reflecting Uzbekistan’s rapid shift toward digital payments even as cash still dominates routine transactions. That tension exposed Humans. The company had faced growing regulatory and commercial strain, including a recent suspension of its payments infrastructure after reports of unauthorised withdrawals from customer accounts. The failure of Humans may cool exuberance in a market that remains far from mature."

The hearing heard that at a creditors’ meeting on August 12, participants supported the bankruptcy path and appointed Abrorzhon Madrakhimov as liquidator.

Humans’ representatives opposed the move, submitting documents and stating that the company was taking steps to repay its debt. They requested the court dismiss the lawsuit.

Citing Article 210 of the Economic Procedural Code and the Law on Insolvency, the court noted that "a sign of temporary insolvency is the failure to fulfil obligations within three months from the date of their occurrence and permanent insolvency is the excess of liabilities over the value of the debtor's assets as of the established reporting dates." 

The court concluded that Humans had failed to meet obligations for over three months and that previous court rulings had not been executed.

The court ruled to:

• Satisfy Octobank’s claims in full;
• Declare Humans bankrupt;
• Begin liquidation without stopping operations;
• Appoint Madrakhimov as liquidator.

The liquidator is required to publish a bankruptcy notice within three days, analyse the debtor’s activities for potential concealment of bankruptcy, organise liquidation procedures in accordance with the law and submit a final report by July 10, 2026. The court also ordered Humans to cover Octobank’s legal costs. The ruling may be appealed within one month.

The decision follows a series of reports over the past weekend on social media about the unauthorised withdrawals from cards linked to Humans. 

In response, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU) launched an investigation, suspended fund transfers related to Humans to address a potential vulnerability and stated it was examining all suspicious transactions.

The dispute dates back to June, when Octobank disconnected the Humans financial service from its system, suspending services for co-branded Visa cards in June. 

The bank subsequently filed a lawsuit seeking debt recovery and damages exceeding UZS 500bn ($41.6mn).

"Octobank faithfully fulfilled the terms of the agreement, but Humans LLC repeatedly failed to promptly repay monetary compensation for clearing transactions completed by the bank within the Humans financial service and failed to pay fees on time," the bank said.

Humans filed a counterclaim, alleging a “systematic failure to fulfil contractual obligations.”

On June 13, the court ruled that Humans must pay Octobank almost UZS 430bn ($35.8mn), covering a principal, fines and state fees, but the company failed to fulfil the payment.

Humans and Octobank started cooperating in 2020.