FG Shuts down Loan Apps, freezes business accounts over consumers rights abuse
The Federal Competition Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) in conjunction with the Independent Corrupt Practices Commision(ICPC) and the National Information Technology Development Agency(NITAD) have raided some loan application platforms over consumer rights abuse.
Some of the raided companies included; GoCash, Okash, EasyCredit, Kashkash, Speedy Choice and Easy Moni.
Leading the raid on some loan application firms in Lagos today, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FCCPC, Mr. Babatunde Irukera said the growing number of consumer complaints on the activities of loan application platforms in relation to privacy infringement and high interest rates informed FCCPC’s decision to carry out the raid.
He said a situation whereby loan application platforms send names and pictures of loan defaulters to all their telephone contacts without recourse to due process and in a manner that suggests naming and shaming will no longer be tolerated.
Giving a background on the rise in the number of loan application platforms, Irukera said during the COVID-19 lockdown, a lot of households due to the effect of the pandemic needed soft loans, hence the need to secure loans became expedient.
He lamented that majority of the companies are operating illegally and not registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission(CAC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria to carryout the business of financial transactions in the country.
Working tools which included laptops were carted away by FCCPC and other agencies involved in the raid to support their investigation.
Irukera said the agency has been monitoring the activities of the firms for several months, saying it was difficult to identify their operational base.
