New NCR Guideline About Service & Delivery Of Notices
During the debt review process consumers and credit providers need to be notified of various things by the Debt Counsellor (and credit providers need to notify the Debt Counsellor and consumer sometimes too).
With the changes to technology and services over the years how do you reconcile the wording of the National Credit Act with available technology for giving notices?
The National Credit Regulator (NCR) has issued a non binding opinion or guideline about how they feel the National Credit Act (NCA) and other Acts like the Electronic Communications Act (ECA) interact. You can download the guideline here:
Download
NCR CIRCULAR 2022 DIGITAL SERVICE & DELIVERY OF NOTICES & DOCUMENTS
Some of the highlights of the guideline include:
If the National Credit Act requires that a Debt Counsellor (or credit provider) use a particular method needs to deliver an official notice, then the Debt Counsellor must follow that method as set out exactly in the Act
If the method is not set out in the wording of the Act (prescribed) then you can use either ordinary mail, fax, email, or even printable web page. Whatever the consumer agrees to (in your contract documents with them).
If the NCA says that you have to send a letter via registered post, it will be totally allowed and ok if you send an electronic copy of the document to the SA Post Office, who then officially register the document and they then send it on the to the applicable email address.
The good news is that an email or SMS communication is regarded as a ‘valid’ form of communication under the ECT Act, and it can be used (unless, as above, the ACT specifically states that you can’t or have to use a different method).
As technology continues to move at a pace it is vital to stay as up to date and compliant as possible. While this guideline is non binding, it does give insight into the NCR’s thinking on the topic and what they might take issue with if you are not doing things that way. It can thus serve as a helpful guideline on how to avoid any possible issues with them and may guide your understanding of how best to make use of electronic means to communicate notices and documents.
