The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (Commission) has said it would commence a probe of Point of Sales vendors in Lagos over alleged price fixing.
Babatunde Irukera, Executive Vice Chairman, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
Recall that the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMAN), Lagos Chapter, announced increased service charges per transaction.
FCCPC, in reaction to the increment of PoS service charges, said its establishment law prohibits price fixing in a bid to safeguard the interest of Nigerians.
The Commission stressed that PoS operators allegedly fixing service charges is unacceptable.
The Commission urged consumers to provide useful and credible information to assist investigation and enforcement.
“The Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Act, 2018 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.
“Setting prices distorts the market, prevents innovation and efficiency and does not redound to the benefit of consumers or other businesses except the participants of such illegal conspiracies or conduct.
“FCCPA provides stiff penalties for cartels or any similar coordinated or collusive conduct among competitors, even at association levels, and the Commission will seek to enforce the law to its fullest extent possible where there is sufficient evidence that a business has, or is participating in any such prohibited conduct or arrangement either directly, or indirectly.
“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”, the Commission stated.
