CTOS to appeal the ruling set by the High Court that it can’t formulate a credit score
KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 ― In a statement shared via Bursa Malaysia, CTOS Data Systems Sdn Bhd (CTOS) said that the company feel that there is enough basis to appeal the ruling made by the High Court yesterday and lodged a Notice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal.
The statement reads:
Regarding the recent High Court matter between Suriati Binti Mohd Yusof (“Plantiff”) and CTOS Data Systems Sdn. Bhd. (“CDS”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, where judgement was made in favour of the Plaintiff, the Board of Directors of CTOS wishes to inform that CDS has been advised that there is basis for an appeal and consequently has lodged a Notice of Appeal to the Court of Appeal. There was no material losses anticipated as a result of this matter and no provisions shall be required. ― CTOS
To summarise, the High Court has ruled that CTOS, as a company, does not have the authority to devise a credit score for its customers, nor establish the criteria or percentage to formulate the credit score under the Credit Reporting Agencies Act 2010 (CRAA). As an agency, its role is only to gather information for its subscribers. Financial institutions should rely on CCRIS reports instead of CTOS’s credit score.
This ruling is the result of a lawsuit by Suriati Binti Mohd Yusof, a resort owner in Pulau Perhentian who sued CTOS for inaccurate credit rating which allegedly resulted in loss of reputation, personal losses as well as business losses.
During her checks, she found out that CTOS created a negative report for her based on inaccurate data collected by the agency. In the original NST report, the businesswoman said that she communicated with CTOS to check and update the inaccuracies in her data. The inaccurate data was used to create a low credit score and resulted in a rejected car loan application in May 2019.
CTOS was instructed by the High Court to pay the Suriati RM 200,000 in damages plus RM50,000 in legal costs, which the company will try to appeal soon. We have reached out to CTOS for any additional comments. ― SoyaCincau
