The Executive Vice-Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Babatunde Irukera, says the commission has frozen the bank accounts of 50 digital loan apps operating in the country.
He made the revelation in an interview published by The Punch on Monday.
Irukera said that the FCCPC has also compelled the loan apps to modify their behaviours that infringe on the rights of their customers.
“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 per cent. I am not saying they have stopped but they have dropped by at least 60 per cent.
“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 said.
Asked why only one loan app was being prosecuted, Irukera, who is a lawyer, said, “Well, 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.
“What we are doing as a regulator includes things that the law gives us power to do. Some of these things are still happening, but we will continue the work to eradicate them.”
He added that more than 10 lending companies were being investigated by the commission.