The National Credit Regulator is the statutory body that regulates the South African consumer credit industry under the National Credit Act. This page covers what it has jurisdiction over and how its complaint process works. Contact details were read from ncr.org.za on 31 August 2026.
Official contact channels
- Call centre: 0860 627 627
- Telephone: 011 554 2700
- Complaints: [email protected]
- General information: [email protected]
- Operating hours: Monday to Thursday 8:00 to 17:00, Friday 8:00 to 16:30
Send a complaint to [email protected] rather than to the general information address. The regulator publishes the two separately and a complaint sent to info@ will be re-routed, costing days.
A caution worth knowing before you send personal documents: the National Credit Regulator carries a notice on its own website stating that it has been the victim of a cyber-attack. Confirm by telephone on 0860 627 627 that an emailed complaint and its attachments have been received, and avoid sending more identifying material than the complaint actually requires.
What this regulator handles
The National Credit Regulator registers and supervises the businesses in the credit industry rather than resolving individual money disputes. Its jurisdiction covers:
- Credit providers – banks, retailers, micro-lenders and anyone else who lends under a credit agreement
- Credit bureaux, which hold and report your credit record
- Debt counsellors, who place consumers under debt review
- Payment distribution agencies, which distribute debt review payments to creditors
Typical matters inside its jurisdiction are reckless lending, a credit provider or debt counsellor operating without registration, incorrect information on a credit record that a bureau will not fix, prohibited conduct under the National Credit Act, and a debt counsellor or payment distribution agency failing to do its job.
What falls outside it matters just as much. A dispute about the terms, fees or service on your specific credit agreement with a bank or insurer is ordinarily a matter for the National Financial Ombud Scheme on 0860 800 900. The National Credit Regulator investigates conduct and enforces the Act; it does not act as your representative to recover money or to renegotiate your account.
Complaints and escalation process
Work through the steps in order, because a complaint lodged out of sequence is usually sent back:
- Complain to the credit provider or bureau first and get a written reference. The regulator will ask whether you did.
- Gather your evidence – the credit agreement, statements, correspondence with dates, and the registration number of the provider, bureau or debt counsellor if you have it.
- Lodge the complaint with [email protected], setting out what happened, in date order, and what outcome you want.
- Confirm receipt by phoning 0860 627 627 and record the reference given to you.
Where the regulator finds prohibited conduct it may refer the matter to the National Consumer Tribunal, which is the body that adjudicates and imposes penalties. The regulator investigates and refers; the Tribunal decides. Neither awards you compensation the way a court would, so if what you want is money back rather than enforcement against a provider, the ombud or a court is the better forum.
Address and operating information
The call centre on 0860 627 627 is the consumer-facing line and 011 554 2700 reaches the offices directly, a Johannesburg number. Note that the regulator closes earlier on a Friday, at 16:30 rather than 17:00, and is not open at weekends – a Friday afternoon call often will not connect.
The regulator also publishes a workshops address, [email protected], for consumer education and industry training requests. That is not a complaints channel and should not be used to lodge one.
Sources
- ncr.org.za contact details, operating hours and published security notice, read 31 August 2026
- nfosa.co.za, National Financial Ombud Scheme contact details