Consumers Now Have Appeal Right: A-G
Consumers have the right of appeal to any licensed credit reporting agency under the Fair Reporting of Credit Regulations Act 2016. Previously, this was not possible when Data Bureau Limited was in the market.
Then, Fijians could report any credit that is owed to the now defunct Bureau. The amount could be as low as $50. If the owed amount could be disputed, consumers had no avenue to do this.
Acting Prime Minister and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said many Fijians suffered as a result, in particular those in the lower end of the socio-economic scale. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum was responding to a question by Opposition MP Aseri Radrodro about the functions of the newly-established Credit Information Reporting Agency PTE Limited and how it would benefit consumers. Under the Fair Reporting of Credit Regulations Act 2016, late last month the Reserve Bank of Fiji granted a licence to Credit Information Agency PTE Limited (CIRA). CIRA will be in operation in the next few months
Under the Act the minimum amount of credit information that may be reported to a credit reporting agency or credit report recipient is a payment of more than $300 that has been overdue for at least 60 days. . Opposition MP Jiosefa Dulakiverata, in his supplementary question, said Data Bureau Limited should not be blamed for the way they operated because there was no legislation at that time and whether they would be able to operate again.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the law did not prohibit Data Bureau Limited. “All they simply have to do is to comply with the law and make an application to the Reserve Bank of Fiji."
Data Bureau Limited is a company that was initiated by a group of financial institutions and insurance companies in Fiji in 2001.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum outlined a few findings about the defunct Bureau:
According to the company file, the major shareholder of the Data Bureau is Carlisle Limited, which holds 33.4 per cent of the shares;
Additionally Carlisle Fiji Limited owned 11.1 per cent of the shares;
The company is a subsidiary of Carlisle Limited, which means that Carlisle Limited owns 44.5 per cent of the shares in the data reporting company;
There is no record of CL in the company’s office;
While there is a company called Carlisle Fiji Limited, its shares are owned by Carlisle Limited;
In the Carlisle Fiji Limited company file, there is a reference to Carlisle Limited having its address in Vanuatu; and
An online search on the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission showed that Carlisle Limited was dissolved and it was removed from the register on 30 June 1993. “Nobody knows who Carlisle Limited is and who owns most of the shares in that company who collects and disseminates personal credit information in relation to Fijian citizens,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said. He assured that Government has not decided to record student loans with any new credit information reporting agencies.