KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has ordered CTOS pay RM200,000 in general damages to a 43-year-old businesswoman who owned a resort in Pulau Perhentian, for inaccurate credit rating.
According to New Straits Times, the businesswoman sued the defendant for alleged negligence and breach of fiduciary duty in misrepresenting her credit rating leading to a loss of reputation, personal losses as well as business losses.
Her application for a car loan in May 2019 was rejected due to a negative report from the defendant (CTOS). She later discovered that the data collected and retained by the defendant was inaccurate, leading to a false negative rating for her.
She also discovered that the credit score was based on inaccurate criteria which was not updated.
CTOS argued all information given was with the consent of the plaintiff and any information given by the defendant was subjected to verification by the parties applying for the report.
Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir said that the defendant had a a duty to provide accurate credit information not only to the financial institutions but also to persons concerned against whom the information was related to.
He added that the woman had the evidence that the defendant was alerted that the information against her was inaccurate.
“The evidence in this case shows that the defendant chose to ignore the communication from the plaintiff and continued to maintain the said information,“ said Akhtar.
He said the least the defendant could have done was to either suspend the information pending verification or notify the subscribers or applicants that verification was underway.
“By choosing to be indifferent even after being alerted by the plaintiff, the defendant has clearly breached the duty of care owed towards the plaintiff.”
The plaintiff was also awarded RM50,000 in costs.
ALSO READ:
CTOS Digital registers record net profit of RM118m for FY23
