The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) intends to approach Google with a request to have loan applications from its Play Store that harass users removed.
The Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, has stated that loan apps harass borrowers and has issued a warning that there will be no second chances given to any loan app that is proven to have harassed or slandered clients.
In addition to this, he stated that anyone can utilise the commission’s website to report any form of harassment and that the situation will be dealt with as quickly as is humanly possible.
It is important to keep in mind that the federal government and some loan sharks were involved in a drawn-out judicial struggle regarding the harassing and defamatory actions of these online lending apps towards defaulters as well as other unethical practices.
As a direct consequence of this, a “limited and interim regulatory framework” has been developed that loan sharks are required to adhere to.
Google Play made the announcement in November 2022 that it will be changing its Developer Programme Policy, and those changes went into effect on January 31st, 2023.
These revisions demonstrate that digital money lenders in Nigeria are required to adhere to the regulations that have been formulated by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
In addition to this, they are obligated to submit Google Play with additional information that demonstrates their compliance with the relevant regulatory authorities in the nation.
Read also: Google bans loans apps from collecting personal data, harassing borrowers
Some loan apps were removed
The Joint Task Force (JTF) and the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Commission (FCCPC) worked together in April 2023 to produce the Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending.
As a direct result of this, the regulator removed some loan applications from the Google Play store and gave its blessing to 173 online lenders who promised to follow its guidelines.
According to Irukera, the arrangement that the organisation has with Google limits the Google Play Store to only being able to house 180 lending apps.
New policies made by Google
In April of 2023, Google made changes to the policy on personal loans. After the 31st of May, 2023, personal loan applications will no longer have access to their users’ contacts or images as a result of the modifications.
In June of 2023, the FCCPC announced that it was looking into more than 400 complaints relating to the financial lending business.
According to Vincent Olatunji, the National Commissioner of the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), the new mandate of the Financial Crisis and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) will make lending institutions accountable to the law.
Before certifying online lenders, lending organisations were required by the mandate to check in with NDPC to ensure they were in compliance and received clearance.
Remarks from the CEO of FCCPC
“What we are seeing is that there are stories emerging of these digital lenders engaging in inappropriate conduct, especially the investigative story from nairametrics. Our concern is if these lenders we’ve approved are still doing it, even if they do it just for once, we will permanently delete them from the Google play store. As we discover them, we go after them.
“There are things they can do wrong where they will be given a second chance, but with respect to harassing consumers or defamatory messages, there will be no second chance.”
