Veda has breached the Credit Reporting Privacy Code by not giving consumers easy access to free credit reporting information, according to a complaint lodged with the Privacy Commissioner.The complaint was made jointly by the Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre, Financial Counselling Australia and the Australian Privacy Foundation. They say access to free credit reports on Veda's websites is not as readily available, nor as easy to identify, as a paid credit reports.They also complain that only allowing consumers to order paid copies of reports over the phone -  not free copies -  is a further breach.Another concern is identification requirements to obtain free credit reports,  which are more onerous than those required for paid copies.The Credit Reporting Privacy Code, which took effect in March this year along with changes to credit reporting rules in the Privacy Act, is the code of conduct that guides credit providers and reporting bureaus in their management of the new comprehensive credit reporting rules.The Code says: "If a credit reporting bureau has a service whereby an individual may for a fee obtain their credit reporting information, the information made available by the CRB about the fee-based service must prominently state that individuals have a right under [the Act] to obtain their credit reporting information free of charge [with some conditions]."The free information must be "as available and easy to identify and access" as the fee-based service.According to the complaint, Veda's website mycreditfile.com.au promotes the paid service at the top of the home page, whereas information about a free credit file can only be seen by scrolling down.And at Visa corporate website, the page veda.com.au/yourcreditandidentity provides information about a number of paid offerings without mentioning the availability of a free credit report.In their submission to the Privacy Commissioner, the complainants said they wrote to Veda in April. In reply, Veda said it was working on a new portal that would make access to free reports easier.The complainants said there was unnecessary delay in getting this work done. They said: "We are concerned that many consumers would find it very difficult to find the free option to get their credit report on the Veda websites and may be misled into believing they have to pay for the report."Veda's chief data officer, Simon Bligh, said the Credit Reporting Privacy Code was registered very close to the starting date for the changes to the Privacy Act and this had pushed back IT developments, including a new consumer portal.Bligh said Veda was issuing 10,000 free credit reports each month and had not received any complaints about ease of access.He said the different identification requirements were a function of legacy systems with different requirements. Those requirements would be harmonised.