Metropol credit reference bureau (CRB) is on the spot for disregarding a directive issued in April by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), barring CRBs from listing borrowers as non-performing (blacklisting) during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to a Metropol employee who reached out to Kahawa Tungu on condition of anonymity, the bureau has been listing borrowers who default loans for 30 days, instead of the stipulated 90 days.
Data in our possession shows that one of the borrowers who was listed had defaulted for only 30 days as of April 1, hence was not supposed to be blacklisted. We could not share the details of the borrower for lack of his consent, and to protect his privacy.
Read: Banks Could Pay up to Sh2 Million Fine for Denying Blacklisted Borrowers Loans
The Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning Ukur Yatani through Gazette Notice No. 3096 of April 8, 2020, announced the suspension for a period of six months, the listing of negative credit information for borrowers whose loans were performing previously but have become non-performing from April 1, 2020.
“Consequently, loans that fall in arrears from April 1 to September 30, 2020, will not lead to the “blacklisting” of the borrower on the CRBs. This is one of the emergency measures that were announced on March 25, 2020, in light of the exceptional circumstances from the Coronavirus pandemic and aiming to shield borrowers from the adverse impact,” CBK said in a statement.
Other CRBs, Transunion and Credit Info, are said to be compliant, though Kahawa Tungu could not independently ascertain this.
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