I tonoa TSB kia utu i te $2.47 miriona mō āna utu taurewa me ngā utu taunoa kāore e tika ana

Tuesday, 27 August 2024

Kua whakamāoritia tēnei pūrongo e tētahi hinengaro rorohiko, ā, kua hihiratia e te kaiwhakamāori a Puna, ko Joel Maxwell, nāna te pūrongo i whakapai hoki i mua i te whakaputa hei pūrongo reorua. Nā Straker me Microsoft te hinengaro rorohiko i whakawhanake.

This story, originally in English only, was translated into reo Māori by an AI tool then checked and edited by Stuff kaiwhakamāori Joel Maxwell before publication as a bilingual news story. The AI tool was developed by Straker and Microsoft.

Kua whakahaua kia utu te Pēke TSB o Taranaki i te $2.47 miriona mō tāna utu i te $3.6m neke atu i te utu tauwera, taunoa hoki e tika ana.

Taranaki-based TSB Bank has been ordered to pay $2.47 million for charging about $3.6m more than it should have for credit and default fees.

I rapua te whiu e te Komihana Tauhokohoko, i muri i te arotakenga a te pēke, i whaia i utua hē neke atu i te 42,000 ngā kiritaki kānataraki nama i waenganui i te Hune 2015 me te Nōema 2021.

The penalty had been sought by the Commerce Commission, after a review by the bank found it had overcharged more than 42,000 credit contract customers between June 2015 and November 2021.

Read this story in English here.

Mai i tērā wā kua whakahokia e te pēke nga utu hē - me ētahi atu hua tāpiri i hoatu e ngā utu, he wāhanga whakamahia-moni rānei - e tapeke ana i te $6m, e ai ki te kaiwhakawā a Pheroze Jagose i roto i tētahi whakataunga i te Kōti Tiketike i Tāmaki Makaurau i te Tūrei.

The bank had since refunded the overcharges — together with any additional interest they incurred, or a use-of-money component — totalling some $6m, Justice Pheroze Jagose said in a decision in the High Court at Auckland on Tuesday.

I tīmata ngā wāhanga mō te tuku tika i te moni taurewa o te ture Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA), i te waenganui o te 2015. I waenganui i ētahi atu mea, i roto i aua whakarato tētahi whakaritenga kia kaua tētahi kirimana nama kiritaki e whakarato mō tētahi utu nama, he utu taunoa rānei he kore tika.

Responsible lending provisions of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA) had taken effect in mid-2015. Among other things, those provisions included a requirement that a consumer credit contract must not provide for a credit fee or a default fee that was unreasonable.

“Ki te whakatau mēna e tika ranei te utu ka mate te whakatau mēnā ka utua e te kaituku moni te utu mō ngā utu e pā ana ki a ia, e ai ki ngā paerewa tika o te mahi arumoni,” te kī a te kaiwhakawā.

“If unreasonable is to be determined with regard to whether the fee reasonably compensates the creditor for costs incurred by it, according to reasonable standards of commercial practice,” the judge said.

Kua tautuhia ngā kirimana nama kiritaki puka māori o TSB me te kore kōrero ki taua whakaritenga.

TSB’s standard form consumer credit contracts had been set without reference to that requirement.

Engari, i takea nga utu i runga anō i ētahi atu whakaaro arumoni, pēnei i ngā utu i utua e ētahi atu umanga pūtea, me te kaha o TSB ki te whakaputa moni whiwhinga, me te hua pea, mai i ngā utu.

Rather, the fees were based on other commercial considerations, such as fees charged by other financial institutions, and TSB’s ability to generate income, and potentially profit, from the fees.

I te 2021, i mahia e TSB he arotakenga o te tino ū o ngā utu i te Ture, ā, i hurāina ko te 14 o ōna utu e 35 kāore i te tautuku.

During 2021, TSB had carried out a review of its fees’ compliance with the Act, and concluded 14 of its 35 fees were non-compliant.

I mutu te tuku i aua utu i te 2021, a, ka whakaritea he utu i ū ki te ture.

It ceased charging such fees in 2021, and put in place fees that complied with the law.

I pūrongotia e TSB ngā kitenga arotake ki te kōmihana i te Māehe 2022, ā, i homai he “mahi tahi whānui” ki te tūhuratanga a te kōmihana, ka kī te kaiwhakawā.

TSB reported the review findings to the commission in March 2022, and provided “comprehensive cooperation” to the commission’s investigation, the judge said.

“E whakaaro ana ahau he taumaha rawa tā te peke utu atu mō te wā roa o ngā utu taurewa me ngā utu taunoa, nā whai anō he hanga uapare tōna,” tana kī.

“I consider the bank’s long-term charging of unreasonable credit and default fees to be of high gravity, for which the bank is moderately culpable,” he said.

I patua ngā utu kore tikanga i te whāinga o te Ture ki te whakatū i ngā utu taurewa, taunoa hoki, kua māia, tika, kōataata hoki.

The charging of unreasonable fees struck directly at the Act’s objective of establishing efficient, fair and transparent credit and default fees.

Na TSB i ārahi te papa tuatoru o nga pēke hokohoko, i raro iho i ngā pēke nui, nui ake hoki, e whakatau ana i te whitu o te katoa o ngā rawa.

TSB led the third tier of retail banks, below major and larger banks, ranking seventh overall by total assets.

Nā te tarahiti ohaoha Tūranga Toi, nāna i utu moni hua i whai hua ai ki te hapori o Taranaki, ka whai hua te TSB i muri i te tāke o te $34m i tērā tau ā-pūtea.

Wholly owned by charitable trust the Toi Foundation, which paid dividends that benefited the Taranaki community, TSB made a net profit after tax of $34m in the last financial year.

Ko ngā tauira e 14 o te kore-tautuku i tae ra anō ki te utu neke atu i te tika ki ngā kiritaki mō ngā utu taurewa me ngā utu taunoa e 12. Ko ērā atu tauira e rua mō te utu kāore i whai mana kirimana te pēke ki te utu.

The 14 instances of non-compliance included the bank charging customers more than it should have across 12 credit and default fees. The other two instances were for charging fees the bank did not have a contractual right to charge.

He whakamaumahara te whakataunga ki ngā kairewa CCCFA kāore i taea e rātou te utu nui ake i te utu o te tauwhitinga, ka kī te tiamana tuarua kōmihana Anne Callinan.

The decision was a reminder to CCCFA lenders that they couldn’t charge fees that were more than the costs of the transaction, commission deputy chair Anne Callinan said.

“Kua whakaritea ēnei rāhuitanga mō ngā utu hei pare i ngā kaihoko, me te whakarite kia ngāwari noa iho te whakataurite a ngā kiritaki o Aotearoa i ngā tono moni whakatārewa – me arotake auau ngā kairewa moni i ā rātou utu kia tika ai, ā, kāore i te tautuhi noa iho, kia wareware hoki.”

“These restrictions on fees are in place to protect borrowers and make sure Kiwi customers can easily compare loan offers – lenders need to regularly review their fees to ensure they are reasonable and not just set and forget them.”

This is a Public Interest Journalism-funded translation through NZ On Air