The Federal Government has disclosed that there are about 70 to 90 online lending applications currently operated by various firms in Nigeria.
The Executive Vice Chairman, Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Babatunde Irukera, made the disclosure in Lagos on Thursday, during a collaborative engagement with the media to review and analyze the state of the market.
He said some of the online apps were legitimate while others were operating illegally.
“Not all online loan applications are illegal. Some are completely illegitimate; some are legitimate but illegitimate in their approach to tracking debtors. We are against the illegitimate works,” Irukera said.
It would be recalled that a few weeks ago, some offices of these loan companies were sealed as many of them were operating in the country without requisite licenses. The activities of these loan sharks have been brought under scrutiny following an outcry from citizens about the near brutal loan collection techniques being used by the loan collectors of these companies.
Several citizens’ privacy has been breached all in the name of debt recovery, a move the laws of the land are clearly against.
The FCCPC boss urged companies to be responsible and responsive to customer care services.
According to him, the government is more accessible and easier to find than private individuals because individuals want to make a profit.
Irukera said, “Government for all its inefficiencies is more accessible, easier to find than private individuals who just sell to make a profit.
“Industry must prioritize responsiveness and responsibility to their customers. Customers responsiveness is a core to business and FCCPC owes this as a responsibility.”
He said the media is a critical infrastructure in the constitutional obligation of the government to protect the consumers’ interests.
“What we intend to achieve is to educate people of their rights,” he said.
Irukera also said that one of the challenges in the telecommunication sector is transparency in billing.
He said, “Challenge in the telecommunication is transparency in billing. With data, it is difficult to see transparency in data billing, transparency is better with voice calls than with data.”
