s 17 Individuals acting as debt collectors
17.—(1) An individual must not, on or after the start date, act as a debt collector for a person who carries on a debt collection business unless —(a) the person is a licensee which is approved to deploy the individual as the licensee’s debt collector under section 20; or (b) the person is the individual’s employer and is an excluded person. (2) An individual must not, on or after the start date, act as a debt collector for a person who carries on a regulated business unless —(a) the person is the individual’s employer and is a class licensee; and (b) the individual is deployed by the person as the person’s debt collector in respect of a debt that the person is authorised to collect under a class licence that is applicable to the person. (3) An individual who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —(a) to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both; but (b) where the individual is a repeat offender — to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. (4) In this section, “start date” means the date which falls 3 months after the date of commencement of this section.