The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has announced that it will proceed with prosecution of NCash, LCredit and other online lending apps found guilty of breaking the law guiding the consuming market. This has come as a result of the several investigations by the FCCPC to fish out unregistered loan apps and harassment of defaulting customers.
According to the Executive Vice Chairman,Mr Babatunde Irukera, in a document signed on behalf of the Joint Regulatory Task Force (JRTF) addressing ‘loan sharks’ in Monday in Abuja,he disclosed that a few of the lending operators under investigation, with frozen accounts, approached the Commission and expressed the desire to cooperate with the FCCPC.
Irukera said that the Commission would also hold employees, collaborators or agents of money lenders accountable in line with extant laws in the event of any conduct violation. He stated that as a condition to accept these organisations into the cooperation framework, some of the moneylenders have been required to desist from contacting, including by text messages, people on contact lists/third parties of borrowers or defaulters.
He said, “They are also required to discontinue further abusive, coercive and inappropriate language in communication with loan defaulters or borrowers.
“To also provide a mechanism for transparency regarding loan repayment fees, default or late payment charges as well as interest calculation to the Commission.
“The mechanism must include an open, accessible and responsive feedback and dispute resolution framework that complies with fair lending and loan recovery principles.
“The Commission reserves the prerogative to proceed in any manner consistent with prevailing law including but not limited to criminal prosecution of any digital money lender, its employees, collaborators or agents, whose conduct is in violation of extant law.”
Meanwhile the Commission applauded the consumers for cooperating, in terms providing vital and meaningful information that had so far aided the commission’s investigations.