The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says it has asked Google to delete loan applications harassing customers from the Play Store.
This federal government’s action is sequel to sustained intimidation and slander being inflicted on Nigerians by these online creditors.
This is also the the most recent step taken by the Federal Government to protect Nigerians from the activities of these digital lenders.
Politics Nigeria observed that Nigerians on social media are expressing the happiness over this recent announcement.
The FCCPC had earlier in 2023 given a directive to loan apps to register with it and so far, 180 apps had got full or conditional approval from the commission to operate in the country.
Google also recently announced that loan apps would not be allowed on its app store without regulatory approval.
In April 2023, Google announced that loan apps on Play Store would lose their ability to access users’ contacts or photos from May 31, 2023.
The Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, disclosed that the commission was ready to permanently shut down the activities of these apps.
“We have read the stories. But we have to investigate to make sure that the evidence truly exists,” Irukera said.
“The consequence of this, they know it, is that if any of these defamatory messages or harassments goes out again, they will be delisted, and we will ask Google to take them down permanently. But we can’t take that kind of step without knowing for sure because what we’ve found is that the loan apps that are still doing those things are not on Google,” he said.
He went further to say that many apps harassing customers had names like registered ones.
“Most of the complaints we’ve received about these things show that the companies are not on our list/ Google. They are the ones who are using WhatsApp, APK, and other softer, below-the-radar channels to engage consumers,” Irukera said.
The CEO advised consumers to only take loans from approved loan apps since they were easier to find and sanction.
