FG identifies money lenders, payday loan apps to be shut down for rights abuse

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has said that the joint committee that was set up by the federal government to tackle violation of consumer rights and unfair practices in the money lending industry will shut down illegal businesses at the commencement of its enforcement.

The Chief Executive Officer of FCCPC, Mr Babatunde Irukera, disclosed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

Recall that earlier in November 2021, the federal government moved to check some of the illegal, unwholesome and unfair practices in the money lending industry with the setting up of a joint committee to address the situation.

The acts were fast becoming a dominant and abusive practice targeting some of the most vulnerable in society.

The committee that received over 500 electronic mails and information in respect of the investigation was expected to through their activities lead efforts to address multiple potentially dubious conducts of certain money lenders, otherwise known as loan sharks.

The joint committee is made up of representatives from FCCPC, the CBN, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Irukera said that the committee would also be writing interim regulations, which money lending companies must comply with.

He said: “The joint committee is meeting and agreeing on how to proceed but I can say that two of the entities of the joint committee will be going on the field and doing enforcement work very shortly.

“They will be closing down businesses and engaging App stores to shut down certain applications that are infringing and abusive.

`We are also going to be writing interim regulations and some basic information for all these money lenders to provide information so that people will know who they are.

“Some of them are just Apps that we do not even know who the promoters are. So we are going to provide certain frameworks for them to comply with before doing business.’’

Electricity, banking, aviation tops 2021 consumer complaints chart

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The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says the electricity sector has again topped its 2021 consumer-related complaints chart just like in 2020.

The Chief Executive Officer of FCCPC, Mr Babatunde Irukera, who disclosed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja said banking-related complaints were following closely as second on the chart.

Irukera explained that aviation and telecommunication-related complaints were next on the chart.

Irukera said that the commission received and completed the processes of no fewer than 32,000 consumer-related complaints in 2021, with 80% of them being resolved.

He said: “For the sectors that received the highest complaints, we have electricity, banking then aviation is now competing with telecommunications on the third place.

NAN