. As Commission approves 94 digital money lenders to curb loan sharks
The financial services, electricity, and aviation sectors were ranked top three on a list of 13,580 complaints received in 2022 by the Federal Competition, Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
The financial services topped the list with 5,709 complaints, followed by electricity and power with 3,293, while aviation came in a far third with 674, and telecommunications registered 605.
Others are E-commerce, 508; electrical electronics, 415; food and beverages, 222; satellite/cable services, 122; postal/courier services, 71; road transport, 69; land/construction, 65; real estate/mortgages 63; health services 52; education 29 and many others.
The complaints were received by the commission in its headquarters and across its zonal offices from January to December, 2022 with 3,327 complaints resolved.
Complaints in 2022 were higher than the 10,178 received in 2021 of which 1,990 were resolved. Again, the financial services topped the list with 2,736 complaints followed by electricity/power with 3,043, telecommunications, 510, aviation, 459 and electrical/electronics 502.
Speaking about the aviation industry in particular on Sunday, the Director of Operations, FCCPC, Dr. Adamu Abdullahi, said most of the complaints received were on delays, cancellations, pilfered baggage, lost baggage, airport experience, general condition of the terminals, cooling system, and discourteous services among others.
According to him, the complaints were lodged on the official website: www.fccpc.gov.ng requesting details of the complainant, phone number and other details to receive feedback.
He said: “Log in, give us the complaints and there is a prompt that will tell you to give the type of complaints, and of course all your details are there, the details of the channel solved, your own personal details, phone numbers we can get back to you.
“Immediately a response is generated that gives you your number, the number of your complaints which you can now use to go ahead and always find out how far the Commission has gone in resolving your complaint.
“Of course you can call through the phone in and give your complaint or through normal mail as hard copy you can send your complaint to the FCCPC.”
Abdullahi explained that the Commission has an understanding with the aviation industry and whenever a complaint is received from there, they pass it and give a time limit within which a response is expected.
He however frowned at the failure of airlines to let their passengers know if there is a problem.
He continued: “Most times if you explain to passengers what is happening they can understand; but the problem is, operators don’t go out and tell the public what is actually going on with their operations.
“You buy a ticket, you come and sit in the airport hours unending, you don’t even get any sort of information on the status of your flight and that really angers passengers. If you carry them along and tell them these are the challenges that you are facing, it normally brings down the tempers and that is what we encourage our service providers to always do in the airlines.”
He informed that currently the Commission is working on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in all aspects of consumer protection because they have the core competence and the laws to address their sectors.
He noted that having an MoU with them means that whenever they have complaints via their portal, such complaints will be sent to the sector concerned like to the NCAA and others.
“Some sectors have already joined on that platform so that complaints about shipping now that we already have an MoU with the Nigeria Shippers Council goes to the Council, same for the others. We are in the process of signing that MoU.”
If you carry them along and tell them these are the challenges that you are facing, it normally brings down the tempers and that is what we encourage our service providers to always do in the airlines.
Digital money lenders
To curb the spread of loan shark activities in the country, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has approved the operations of 94 digital money lenders in Nigeria.
From the cache of companies, the Commission stated that only 49 of the digital lenders were given full approval, while the remaining 45 got conditional approval.
The agency disclosed this in an update on its on-going registration of digital money lenders in the country.
Nigerians have been the target of unlicensed loan apps, otherwise known as loan sharks, which has brought disgrace and threat to unsuspecting users.
FCCPC said it came up with the Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending in collaboration with the Joint Task Force (JTF), to promote fair, transparent, and beneficial alternative lending opportunities for Nigerians.
The guidelines require digital lenders to register with the FCCPC and complete two forms; Form DLG 001 and Form DLG 002. Form DLG OO1 is the registration form that requires the applicant company to provide identification and operational information to the FCCPC, while Form DLG 002 contains declarations relating to legitimacy; compliance with applicable regulatory requirements; lawful source of funds and conformity with anti-money laundering; and data protection laws.
Recall that the Commission had last year given all the digital money lenders 90 days to comply with these guidelines; it later extended the deadline, which expired on November 14, 2022, to January 31, 2023.
Visit fccpc.gov.ng for the full list of companies.
