The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has warned Pos operators against price fixing in the country.
In a statement on Monday, signed by its Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Mr. Babatunde Irukera, the commission said it would not allow any attempt to create a PoS business cartel that fixes.
While noting that it was not against individual PoS operators increasing their prices as they deem fit to make a profit from the business, it reminded the operators, under the auspices of Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN) that what the law frowns at is the attempt to fix prices for its members.
FCCPC said regardless of latest statements from the association, in disregard of its earlier warning over the plan to fix prices, it will continue to use the advocacy approach and would not hesitate to impose penalties when necessary.
“Considering that membership of AMMBAN probably consists mainly of small businesses and creates employment for young and mostly vulnerable citizens, the Commission adopted advocacy and business education as the tool to promote and enforce obedience to the law.
“This is a prudential, not weak or helpless approach to ensuring compliance, and it underscores the Commission’s proportionality approach to its consequence management system; and interpretation of the law,” he said.
According to him, the Commission has not sought to limit the prerogative of PoS service providers to determine and set prices for services in a manner of their choosing subject to Section 127 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 (FCCPA), which prohibits manifestly unjust or exploitative prices.
“As a matter of fact, and to the contrary, the Commission respects and encourages a pricing methodology that is the product of market forces in a free, competitive and undistorted market.
“There is no evidence that the PoS market lacks sufficient players or competition in Lagos which is the subject of the announcement, or anywhere else for that matter.
“The Commission welcomes the inherent powers and discretion of each PoS operator to set their prices based on their own internal mechanisms and relevant markets, providing consumers with choices and the best possible prices while ensuring profitability,” he said.
Irukera added that while the Commission continues to provide consideration to, and for small businesses, enforcing the law must remain non-negotiable and the Commission would not hesitate to sanction any PoS operator where it established that the law has been violated.
He advised PoS operators that violation of an order of the Commission attracts additional consequences apart from the underlying illegal conduct that is the subject of the order such as up to N10,000,000 for corporate entities; and N1,000,000 and or a prison sentence of up to three months for individuals.
