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Debt Counsellor Annual Renewal Fees to be 5 Times more Expensive in 2016

The Department of Trade and Industry have published for comment a proposal that Debt Counsellor annual renewal fees be set at R500 (as opposed to the current R100).

NCR LogoThe proposal is probably based on the idea that the National Credit Regulator (NCR) have plans to issue annual registration certificates to Debt Counsellors who renew their registration.

 

NCR To Issue New Certificates Yearly

At present, the NCR only issue such certificates once when Debt Counsellors first apply. They still renew the registration each year. The main change then is the printing and distribution of these certificates. It seems that this may cost 5 times as much as previously. There has been a lot of concern across the industry that the NCR may not have capacity to handle the many thousands of certificates which will need to be produced each year in a timeous fashion. The plan will no doubt require that the NCR hire a large number of staff if they even want to realistically try to accomplish this goal. This will require a lot more salaries be paid. In 2015 the NCR were said to have run into funding / budgeting problems and spent their budget before the year ended.

Fees Do Need To Be Reviewed Regularly

It could be that the DTI & NCR feel that the fees simply need to be reviewed after so many years since the fees were first published. This is something that has been raised over the last few years by Debt Counsellors particularly in regard to the fees that Debt Counsellors can charge for performing a debt review. One of the consequences of the NCR running out of funds was that they announced that they were not going to able to complete a review of the fees Debt Counsellors themselves can charge as they would not be able to pay their consultants in this matter.

Debt Counsellors Called on to Comment

The DTI have called for comment on the proposed changes. If you feel the increase is too high, too low or otherwise, feel free to comment. You can send your comment (before 12 Feb 2016)  to:

SKumkani@thedti.gov.za

 

Download the Gov Gazette

DownloadYou can Download the DTI Notice Here:

Proposed DTI reg to Increase DC Renewal Fees Jan 2016