FCCPC extends registration deadline for digital money lenders

Chief Executive Officer, FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on Friday announced the extension of the deadline for the registration of online money lenders.

The Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Babatunde Irukera, in a statement made available to The said the process has been extended to March 27, 2023.

He stated that the extra time was to ensure the registration of Digital Money Lenders whose registration was still in process and to prevent significant market disruptions.

It is the third time the commission has postponed the deadline for registration since it enforced compulsory registration in August 2022.

The statement read, “On December 6, 2022, in furtherance of the collaboration of the Inter-Agency Joint Task Force, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission extended the deadline for the registration of Digital Money Lenders to January 31, 2023.

“This was to ensure the registration of DMLs whose registration was still in process and to prevent significant market disruptions.

“The Commission noted, however, that several DMLs have not yet provided all relevant documentation to complete their registration process.

“To this end, the Commission is further extending the registration deadline to Monday, March 27, 2023.”

The FCCPC, in recent times, released a limited interim regulatory and registration framework for digital lending in order to curb unethical interest rates, violation of consumer privacy, and other unethical lending practices perpetrated by unchecked digital lenders.