The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) have taken a stance against the planned increase in unified price-fixing on point of sale (PoS) charges by the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), Lagos Chapter.
The FCCPC’s announcement comes in response to AMMBAN’s recent decision to increase the PoS charge per transaction.
In a statement released yesterday, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief executive Officer of FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, threatened to sanction any PoS agent found culpable of fixing high prices.
While acknowledging the importance of preventing fraud and unjust prices, the commission emphasised that fixing prices is neither an acceptable nor proven method to achieve these goals. It added that price-fixing distorts the market, hinders innovation and efficiency, and ultimately fails to benefit consumers or other businesses, except for those involved in such illegal conduct.
However, the FCCPC explicitly restricted the scope and extent of collaboration, specifically excluding coordination related to the supply and pricing of services.
The FCCPC called upon consumers to provide credible and useful information to aid in their investigation and enforcement efforts.
“The Commission would impose severe penalties on cartels or any similar coordinated or collusive conduct, even at the association level. Furthermore, the FCCPC affirmed its commitment to enforcing the law to its fullest extent whenever there is sufficient evidence of prohibited conduct or arrangements, whether direct or indirect, by businesses,” the statement said.
“The Commission is also opening an investigation to ensure the purported statement by AMBANN is not truly representative or erroneous.
Where evidence demonstrates that the statement is factually accurate, the Commission will take appropriate regulatory steps to address the conduct accordingly,” FCCPC added.