Nigerian govt to close digital lenders harassing debtors
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has said it will delist any loan application harassing customers.
The FCCPC also stated that it will ask Google to permanently delete such apps from its app store.
This is in reaction to the continued harassment and defamation Nigerians go through in the hands of digital lenders.
Earlier in the year, the FCCPC mandated loan apps to register with it and approved about 180 apps to operate in the country.
Recently, Google announced that loan apps would not be allowed on its app store without regulatory approval.
In April, Google announced that loan apps on Play Store would lose their ability to access users’ contacts or photos from May 31, 2023.
Despite this, loan apps had continued to harass customers.
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The Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, said the commission was ready to permanently shut down the activities of these apps.
“We have read the stories. But we have to investigate to make sure that the evidence truly exists.
“The consequence of this, they know it, is that if any of these defamatory messages or harassments goes out again, they will be delisted, and we will ask Google to take them down permanently. But we can’t take that kind of step without knowing for sure because what we’ve found is that the loan apps that are still doing those things are not on Google.”
Irukera explained that many apps harassing customers had names like registered ones.
He noted that most of the complaints they received show that the companies are not on their list/ Google, stating they are the ones who are using WhatsApp, APK, and other softer, below-the-radar channels to engage consumers.
Also he advised consumers to only take loans from approved loan apps since they were easier to find and sanction.
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