Debtfree Magazine Sept 2017

discussions with the NCR on the topic the Debt Counsellors Association of
South Africa began a petition relating to the fees.
The NCR decided to put out a possible fee structure for public comment and
this seems to have helped reduce the tensions that had built up. However the
fee structure proposal has not been very popular.
The current proposed fee structure promotes increased costs to consumers and
reduced income to Debt Counsellors over time. [See our in-depth breakdown
of the fee proposal in this issue]
Many Debt Counsellors are concerned that the proposed fees promote helping
mainly higher income consumers and ignoring lower income ones. The fee
structure will also radically reduce income for Debt Counsellors and threaten
their sustainability. Less sustainability leads to consumers facing additional costs
and charges down the line when having to switch Debt Counsellors.
Other Debt Counsellors are concerned that the fee structure might lead to
aggressive promotion of debt review (all focused on signing new clients up)
with little after care service to consumers. As has become increasingly obvious
to all involved, the workload for a debt review matter increases exponentially as
consumers start to finish off the process. The fees do not seem to reflect this.