Consumer Rights under the Consumer Credit Act, 2016

Consumer Rights under the Consumer Credit Act, 2016 (as amended):

The Act provides several rights which the consumer may exercise under this Act:

1. The right to be given a pre-agreement statement and a quotation to consider before entering into an agreement with a credit provider (Section 24)

2. The right to be excluded from any marketing (Section 28).

3. The right to be furnished with documents in plain, simple, and understandable language, ensuring ease of comprehension of the contents, meaning, and importance of the document (Section 29).

4. If the application is declined by the credit provider, a consumer has the right to requests to be given the reasons why the credit application has been declined, as stated in (Sections 30).

5. The right to be given copies of all documents related to the credit transaction, including when the agreement is amended (Sections 32 and 54).

6. The right to be charged only fees allowable under the Act (i.e. initiation, service, interest, credit insurance, default administration charges, and collection costs (Sections 39 and 40).

7. The right to choose provider for credit life insurance (Section 44).

8. The right to receive one free statement of the loan per month from the credit provider (Sections 45).

9. The right to lodge a dispute or debit or credit entries in the statement and receive explanations from credit provider and if not satisfied with the response the consumer has the right to escalate the matter to the office of the Ombudsman of Financial Services (Section 48 and 52).

10. The right to have a credit effected on the same date the consumer makes payment, and a debt effected on the same date as of the date the consumer incurred the debt (Section 49).

11. The right to request statement of settlement without charge and settle without paying any termination fees (Section 50 and 97). 12. Right to direct credit provider to reduce credit limit (Section 55).

13. The right to terminate a credit agreement at any time by paying the settlement amount to the credit provider (Section 59)

14. The right to be assured that personal information shared with the credit provider is kept confidential and not shared to third parties without express permission of the consumer (Section 73).

15. The right to receive one free credit report per year from the credit bureau and if necessary, dispute information held by the credit bureau (Section 79).

16. Right to make prepayments at any time, with or without notice to credit provider (section 98)

17. The right to surrender goods under obtained under a hire purchase agreement or a secured loan and ask the credit provider to sell them at a fair price to dispose of the outstanding balance of the loan.

18. If there is a credit balance after the settlement of the loan, the credit provider is obliged pay it to the consumer (Section 99).

19. The right to receive written notification from the credit provider in the event of default (section 100).

20. The right not to be harassed for credit at home or at work (Sect 105). 16.