Conceptual Rules Framework

i. Fair and consistent treatment of all credit providers and credit agreements per category.

ii. Simultaneous finance charge (fees and interest) reductions and term extensions up to certain defined limits in order to significantly reduce monthly payment obligations for consumers (affordability gains) to overcome the debt distress situation.

iii. Application of defined term extension limits with the aim to enable debt counsellors to offer debt distressed consumers a rehabilitation date. This by implication requires more finance charges sacrifices by credit providers in order to achieve the desired affordability relief.

iv. Apportionment of released affordability (through the settlement of debts and/or escalation of payments by the consumer during the rehabilitation period) to the residual debt portfolio to advance the rehabilitation date for the consumer (rather than improve the finance charge yields of credit providers in the restructuring process).

v. Rehabilitation point defined as point where residual debts can be serviced at contractual rates at which stage a debt counsellor should be enabled to issue a clearance certificate per regulation 27 under the Act (which will require amendment to allow this).

i. Prevent punitive term extension charges;

ii. Limit in duplum complications on high yielding debts; and

iii. Maximize the affordability gain (solve rate) for cases.

i. Proportionately to repayment on each residual agreement; and

ii. To reduce rehabilitation term (due to pre-payment against agreed payment plan).

i. Incrementally (in steps);

ii. Proportionately to all agreements (within the defined concession limits).