The Executive Vice-Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, (FCCPC), Babatunde Irukera, has said the agency has frozen accounts of over 50 firms operating loan apps in the country.
Irukera, who made the disclosure in a published interview yesterday, noted that the action became necessary because the firms were violating the rights of Nigerian consumers.
According to him, “We have so far frozen 50 accounts. We have taken over 12 applications off the Google Play Store and we are in discussions with more than 10 companies right now. The rate of defamatory messages has dropped by at least 60 percent”.
He added: More than half of the companies that are currently before us have agreed that they will have to modify their behaviour. Many of them have changed some of their systems, including sacking some employees who sent defamatory messages. We are developing a regulatory framework that will involve other regulators, and we are prosecuting at least one company right now”.
Irukera emphasised that although money lending is not a crime, the operators of the loan apps deploy unwholesome tactics and violate the rights of Nigerians.
“Money lending itself is not a criminal conduct. So, you have to determine there has been a crime. And even defamation, when civil, is not something a regulator can enforce. It is an injury to reputation that is only enforceable by the injured party and through the judicial process”, he stated.
The FCCPC boss further said the agency carries out investigations before deciding which firms fall into the category of violators.
