The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has announced the extension of the deadline for registration of Digital Money Lenders (DMLs) to January 31, 2023. This announcement was disclosed on Friday in a statement issued by FCCPC, Chief Executive Officer, Babatunde Irukera, where he stated that the deadline of 90 days expired on November 14, adding that some DMLs were still undergoing the registration process, thus the decision for the deadline extension.
He said, “On August 18 in furtherance of the collaboration of the Inter-Agency Joint Task Force, the FCCPC conducted enforcement actions in Lagos with respect to certain DMLs.
“In view of the desire to promote fair, transparent, and beneficial alternative lending opportunities, the Joint Task Force (JTF) established a mutually adopted Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework and Guideline for Digital Lending, 2022.
“Subsequently, the Commission commenced the registration of DMLs.
“By an Order and Notice of the Commission on August 17, existing DMLs were required to comply in not later than 90 days to confirm their business is uninterrupted. The Commission also created a publicly accessible list of the DMLs that have been granted approvals/conditional approvals”.
According to him, the list would be regularly updated and can be accessed on the Commission’s website.
In March, FCCPC in a joint operation with other relevant agencies raided the offices and shut down operations of some DMLs for not registering with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), violation of lenders' rights, unethical lending practices, among other violations.
