The National Consumer Tribunal handed Africa’s biggest food retailer Shoprite with a R1 million fine after it was found guilty of reckless lending. The tribunal said the fine was meant to tighten compliance with the National Credit Act. It said in addition, Shoprite would also have to appoint a debt counsellor at its own costs, to determine whether the affected consumers were over-indebted.
The National Consumer Tribunal released a statement saying: “Some of the conduct of Shoprite that was found to be in contravention of the National Credit Act (NCA) was that Shoprite‚ when assessing whether a consumer could afford a loan or not‚ took into account unverified income of another person‚ such as a spouse or a life partner.”