| (1) |
In this section, "consumer credit information" means information concerning— |
| (a) |
a person’s credit history, including applications for credit, credit agreements to which the person is or has been a party, pattern of payment or default under any such credit agreements, debt re-arrangement in terms of this Act, incidence of enforcement actions with respect to any such credit agreement, an application for, status of and orders granted in respect of debt intervention, and related matters; |
[Section 70(1)(a) inserted by section 7(a) of Notice No. 1081, GG 42649, dated 19 August 2019]
| (b) |
a person’s financial history, including the person’s past and current income, assets and debts, and other matters within the scope of that person’s financial means, prospects and obligations, as defined in section 78(3), and related matters; |
| (c) |
a person’s education, employment, career, professional or business history, including the circumstances of termination of any employment, career, professional or business relationship, and related matters; or |
| (d) |
a person’s identity, including the person’s name, date of birth, identity number, marital status and family relationships, past and current addresses and other contact details, and related matters. |
| (a) |
accept the filing of consumer credit information from any credit provider on payment of the credit bureau’s filing fee, if any; |
| (aA) |
accept without charge the filing of consumer credit information from the National Credit Regulator related to a debt intervention application, the status of such application and any order granted in respect of such application; |
[Section 70(2)(aA) inserted by section 7(b) of Notice No. 1081, GG 42649, dated 19 August 2019]
| (b) |
accept without charge the filing of consumer credit information from the consumer concerned for the purpose of correcting or challenging information otherwise held by that credit bureau concerning that consumer; |
| (c) |
take reasonable steps to verify the accuracy of any consumer credit information reported to it; |
| (d) |
retain any consumer credit information reported to it for the prescribed period, irrespective of whether that information reflects positively or negatively on the consumer; |
| (e) |
maintain its records of consumer credit information in a manner that satisfies the prescribed standards; |
| (f) |
promptly expunge from its records any prescribed consumer credit information that, in terms of the regulations, is not permitted to be entered in its records or is required to be removed from its records; |
| (g) |
issue a report to any person who requires it for a prescribed purpose or a purpose contemplated in this Act, upon payment of the credit bureau’s fee except where the Act explicitly provides that no fee be charged; |
| (h) |
not draw a negative inference about, or issue a negative assessment of, a person’s creditworthiness merely on the basis that the credit bureau has no consumer credit information concerning that person; and |
| (i) |
not knowingly or negligently provide a report to any person containing inaccurate information. |
| (a) |
the consumer credit information Contemplated in subsection (2), a credit bureau may receive, compile and report only other prescribed information in respect of a consumer; and |
| (b) |
the sources of consumer credit information contemplated in subsection (2), a credit bureau may receive consumer credit information in respect of a consumer only from other prescribed persons. |
| (4) |
The Minister may prescribe— |
| (a) |
standards for the filing, retention and reporting of consumer credit information by credit bureaux, in addition to, or in furtherance of the requirements set out in this section; and |
| (b) |
maximum fees that may be charged to a consumer for accessing consumer credit information concerning that person. |
| (5) |
For the purpose of monitoring the consumer credit market to detect apparent patterns of reckless credit granting and over-indebtedness, researching the accessibility and use of credit by persons contemplated in section 13(a), and otherwise exercising its mandate to research consumer credit issues and to investigate and enforce compliance with this Act, the National Credit Regulator may— |
| (a) |
require any credit bureau to provide periodic synoptic reports of aggregate consumer credit information in the prescribed manner and form to the National Credit Regulator, but any such report must not identify any particular consumer or relate a particular consumer to any information so reported; and |
| (b) |
make further reasonable requests for information from a credit bureau related to the information contemplated in paragraph (a); and |
| (c) |
analyse information provided to it under this section or section 69. |
| (6) |
Failure by a credit bureau to comply with a notice issued in terms of section 55, in relation to this section, is an offence. |
Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act, 1996
