I wish to respond to the comments made by the Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) president in his letter Legislation for credit reference agencies overdue .

Firstly, Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA) is not, and has never been, our client.

Had the CAP president called us and enquired, he would know Credit Tip Off Service Sdn Bhd (Ctos) had absolutely nothing to do with MBSA's actions relating to traffic compounds. Instead, the CAP president chose to lash out at us without checking his facts. I am dismayed by the president's action. I find it ironic for a man who makes accusations without checking the facts to call for others to be regulated!

Secondly, the CAP president feels information held by CRA (credit reference agencies) should be restricted solely to those related to 'credit facilities'. How does he define 'credit facilities'? Ask any credit grantor who they would like to lend to. The answer would inevitably be: 'Those who honour their financial obligations'.

The CAP president made reference to a person who refused to pay his monthly club subscriptions and that such information should not be part of a credit report. Is not the payment of a monthly club subscription a financial obligation that should be honoured? Did the person not know that he had to pay monthly subscriptions?

Obviously, the CAP president knows little about how credit grantors make their evaluation the world over. It all has to do with 'Honouring one's financial obligations'.

CRAs the world over report all kinds of default from rent, utility bills, assessments, taxes, alimonies, tax lien, default in payment of goods and services, school fees, hospital bills, etc. And credit grantors refer to them as a source of first information.

With due respect to the CAP president, he should really get his act together before making uninformed statements.

Thirdly, just as in the UK and elsewhere, any individual can come to Ctos to make a self-check on themselves, challenge it and even 'tell their side of the story' so that when an enquiry is done on them, not only does the information in the database is shown to the enquirer, but his comments will also be shown.

For those who wish to know more about Ctos, you may visit our website . For those who wish to have a copy of our booklet on general information of Ctos, please write to us and we shall send you a copy. Our address is:

Ctos

Unit A-8-4, 8th Floor,

Megan Avenue 1

No 189 Jalan Tun Razak

50400 Kuala Lumpur

The writer is chief executive officer, Ctos.