New threshold for credit providers

On 11 May, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, determined a new threshold of NIL (0) for the purpose of determining whether or not a credit provider was required to be registered with the National Credit Regulator (NCR) in terms of the National Credit Act (NCA).

“The previous threshold, in terms of which a person or entity was compelled to be registered only if the value of that person or entity’s credit agreements amounted to R500 000 or if that person or entity concluded 100 credit agreements – has been effectively repealed”, says Nthupang Magolego, Senior Legal Advisor at the NCR.

“The implication of this new threshold is that as from 11 May 2016, any person or entity that is involved in the provision of credit is now required to register irrespective of the number of agreements and/ or the value of the principal debt,” explained Magolego.

Consumers are advised to only obtain credit from duly registered entities, as doing so will advance their rights as provided in the NCA. “Consumers who are in doubt about the registration status of any entity can contact the NCR for verification,” she said.

Registrants are also required in terms of the NCA to renew their registration annually and in this regard the new regulation makes provision for the NCR to charge penalty fees for any late renewal of registration.

“While the NCR sends the notices of annual renewal of registration, it remains the responsibility of each registrant to monitor due dates of renewal and comply with this provision on time,” concluded Magolego.

A copy of the regulation is available on the NCR’s website, www.ncr.org.za.