(1) Every credit institution in existence on the commencement of this Act, before the expiry of three months from such commencement or within such extended period, as the Reserve Bank may allow on its application and subject to being satisfied about the reason for extension, shall become member of at least one credit information company.

(2) Every credit institution which comes into existence after the commencement of this Act, before the expiry of three months from its coming into existence, or within such extended period, as the Reserve Bank may allow on its application and subject to being satisfied about the reason for extension, shall become member of at least one credit information company.

(3) A credit information company may, at its option, become member of another credit information company.

(4) No credit information company shall refuse to register a credit institution or another credit information company as its member without providing reasonable opportunity of being heard to such credit institution or credit information company, whose application it proposes to reject and recording reasons for such rejection and a copy of such order of rejection shall be forwarded to the Reserve Bank.

(5) A credit institution or credit information company aggrieved by the order of rejection of its application for its registration as a member of a credit information company under sub-section (4) may prefer an appeal to the Reserve Bank, within a period of thirty days from the date on which such order of rejection was communicated to it:

Provided that the Reserve Bank may, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal within the said period, allow it to be filed within a further period not exceeding thirty days.

(6) On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (5), the Reserve Bank, after giving the appellant and other concerned parties, an opportunity of being heard, pass such order as it deems fit.

(7) The decision of the Reserve Bank where an appeal has been preferred to it under sub-section (5) shall be final and the order of the credit information company under sub-section (4) shall be final after the expiry of the said period of thirty days where no appeal has been preferred under that sub-section to the Reserve Bank.

(8) Every specified user shall be entitled to obtain credit information for its use from the credit information company of which such specified user is a member.