| (1) | A person must apply to be registered as a credit bureau if that person engages for payment, other than as a credit provider or an employee of a credit provider, in the business of— |
| (a) | receiving reports of, or investigating— |
| (iii) | payment history or patterns; or |
relating to consumers or prospective consumers, other than reports of court orders or reasons for judgment or similar information that is in the public domain;
| (b) | compiling and maintaining data from reports contemplated in subparagraph (i); and |
| (c) | issuing reports concerning consumers or other natural persons based on information or data referred to in this paragraph. |
| (2) | A person must not offer or conduct business as a credit bureau, or hold themselves out to the public as being authorised to offer any service customarily offered by a credit bureau, unless that person is registered as a credit bureau in terms of this Chapter. |
| (3) | The National Credit Regulator must not register a person as a credit bureau unless that person— |
| (a) | maintains and imposes appropriate qualification, competence, knowledge and experience requirements for its employees or contractors who will have authority to represent it in any function under this Act; |
| (b) | has, in the opinion of the National Credit Regulator, sufficient human, financial and operational resources to enable it to function efficiently and to carry out effectively its functions in terms of this Act, or presents to the National Credit Regulator a credible plan to acquire or develop those resources; |
| (c) | has adopted procedures to ensure that questions, concerns and complaints of consumers or credit providers are treated equitably and consistently in a timely, efficient and courteous manner, or presents to the National Credit Regulator a credible plan to acquire or develop those procedures; and |
| (d) | is registered with the South African Revenue Services. |
| (4) | In addition to the requirements of section 46, a person may not be registered as a credit bureau if any person who has a controlling interest in the applicant is— |
| (b) | a debt collection agency; or |
| (c) | a person who conducts any disqualified business prescribed in terms of subsection (5). |
| (5) | The Minister may, by regulation, declare any business activity disqualified as contemplated in subsection (4)(c) if that business activity is inconsistent with the function of operating an independent and objective credit bureau. |
