A three-member bench chaired by Justice Lee Swee Seng said Suriati Yusof had not made out a case in defamation, negligence or breach of statutory duty against CTOS.

“Agencies such as CTOS may formulate and publish credit scores as part of their credit reporting business under the Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CRAA) 2010,” he said in setting aside liability and damages.

Lee, who sat with Justices Azimah Omar and Azmi Ariffin, also ordered Suriati to pay CTOS RM65,000 in costs.

Lawyers Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Ashok Kandiah represented CTOS while Nizam Bashir acted for Suriati.

On March 11, the High Court ruled that the credit reporting agency was purely a repository of credit information and had no powers under the CRAA to formulate its own credit score.

Justice Akhtar Tahir ordered CTOS to pay RM200,000 in general damages to Suriati, 43, who owns a resort in Pulau Perhentian, for providing an inaccurate credit rating, which resulted in her subsequent rejection for a car loan. She was also awarded RM50,000 in costs.

Suriati sued CTOS for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty in misrepresenting her credit rating, which she claimed led to personal and business losses, as well as damaging her reputation.