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Following a recent attempt by Point of Sales agents to fix prices, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has commenced investigations to determine whether to impose sanctions on them.
The FCCPC's move comes barely a week after the PoS agents, under the aegis of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), Lagos Chapter, announced updated charges on their transactions.
According to AMMBAN's Public Relations Officer, Lagos Chapter, Stephen Adeoye, PoS agents now have a new price list in the state and are working to create a task force to enforce the changes.
Adeoye said, “To enforce this new price list is easy because we have a good relationship with the Lagos State Command, Police Force, and all the DPOs in the area. Very soon a task force will be set up in each zone so that they will work along with it.”
The new price list released on Friday, June 30, 2023, will see customers in Lagos pay a service charge of ₦500 for ₦10,000 cash withdrawals.
The price list says, "N1000–N2,400 will be N100 for withdrawal. N3500 to N4000 will be N200; N4,100 to N6,400 will be N300; N6,500 to N7,900 will be N400; N8500 to N10,900 will be N500; N11,000 to N14,000 will be N600; N14,500 to N17,900 will be N700; N18,000 to N2000 will N800 for withdrawal."
FCCPC sounds a note of caution
Reacting to the development, the FCCPC warned that price fixing runs in contradiction to the law and constitutes a distortion of the market, which stifles innovation and efficiency while also impacting customers negatively.
This was contained in a statement, signed by its Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Babatunde Irukera, on Wednesday, July 5, 2023.
It read in part, “The Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Act (2018) recognises indeed encourages the prerogative of businesses to organise in and as trade associations for acceptable purposes, such as ensuring and enforcing applicable standards and best practices, as well as a measure of self-regulation within the profession or trade.
“However, the same FCCPA copiously and extensively limits the scope and extent of such collaboration, particularly to exclude coordination with respect to scope or supply of services and price of services.
“The FCCPA expressly prohibits any price-fixing or agreement among undertakings (whether bilaterally or multilaterally) or by undertakings acting in consensus on the platform, or under the aegis of an association to fix prices, coordinate supply or any other commercially sensitive factors that can limit or substantially prevent competition; or otherwise distort the market.”
The commission, while advising AMMBAN to desist from any attempt to fix its prices, reiterated that FCCPA reserves the right to impose penalties on cartels or any similar coordinated or collusive conduct among competitors, even at association levels.
It added that it is ready to enforce the law to its fullest extent saying, “To the extent that any combination of undertakings, including AMMBAN indeed met, agreed or decided to impose uniform or coordinated fees/tariffs for services this announcement should serve to ensure such undertakings cease and desist from that arrangement or similar discussions/conduct.”