E-tolls: Unpaid bills will not affect your credit score

The South African National Road Agency (Sanral) made headlines last week when a Gauteng resident claimed he was blacklisted for unpaid e-toll bills.

At the time, Rudie Heyneke from the “Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) told The Saturday Star that Sanral “legally have the right” to blacklist defaulters. He added that it was not ethical due to the “advanced stages of a case that is testing the lawfulness of the e-toll scheme.”

The Saturday Star reported that more than 20 motorists received default judgements for unpaid e-toll fees as well. Heyneke also warned that the e-Natis system is not a reliable source of data, resulting in judgments being sent to the wrong addresses.

In addition, Electronic Toll Collection’s (ETC) Coenie Vermaak told Eyewitness News that judgments would be issued against motorists. At the time, the ETC allegedly “issued between 2 000 and 4 000 summonses per month.”

Vermaak assured motorists that they would receive sufficient notice, firstly via SMS, followed by a letter of demand and then a summons.

Following this, the Credit Bureau Association released a statement to confirm that it will remove any blacklisting of drivers who obtain judgments. The Bureau confirmed:

“Information relating to e-tolls / Sanral will not be held on the credit bureau. The Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Act 2013 […] specifically excludes the levying and collection of e-tolls from the provisions of the National Credit Act 2005.”

They confirmed that “any information related to e-tolls which has been inadvertently loaded onto a consumer profile, will be removed.” In short, unpaid e-toll bills will not affect your credit.

However, motorists who receive judgements are urged not to ignore the summons, but to rather reach out to Outa for assistance or lodge a dispute with the Credit Bureau Association.

MEDIA UPDATE:

CONSUMER INFORMATION RELATING TO E-TOLLS / SANRAL WILL NOT BE HELD ON THE CREDIT BUREAUS pic.twitter.com/v7PKodsrTI

— Credit Bureau Association (@CBAisSocial) March 19, 2019

Good news update on the e-Toll default judgment front: Six members of the Credit Bureau Association will remove any blacklisting related to Sanral eToll Judgments. See their letter here. ⁦@OUTASA⁩ welcomes this latest development. pic.twitter.com/L8JOT54wGS

— Wayne Duvenage (@wayneduv) March 19, 2019