PoS operator who increases charges will spend 3 months in jail – FG

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on behalf of the Federal Government has issued a cease-and-desist order to Point of Sale operators from actions that violate the law.

The Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, which represents PoS operators, recently moved to set new prices for PoS transactions.

The new pricing scheme went into effect on July 17, 2023.

PoS operators who are found to be in violation of the order must pay N10m for corporate entities and N1m and/or serve up to three months in jail, according to the commission.

Clearing that it is not against individual PoS operators raising their prices as they see fit to make a profit from the business, the commission stated that what the law frowns upon is the attempt by the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN) to fix prices for its members.

The FCCPC would not permit any attempt to establish a PoS business cartel that fixes, according to the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Mr. Babatunde Irukera, in a statement made public on Monday.

Irukera said the Commission was concerned about statements coming from the association’s executives while scowling at AMMBAN’s disregard for its earlier warning regarding the plan to fix prices.

He, however, noted that the Commission would continue to use the advocacy approach while it would not hesitate to impose penalties when necessary.

Noting that the Commission is not weak, Irukera said the FCCPC has adopted advocacy to enforce obedience to the law because the PoS business is dominated by young Nigerians who are creating jobs for themselves.

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.

Irukera added that the FCCPA provides the Commission with statutory tools to ensure compliance and penalise violations of the law. As previously noted, some of these penalties are stiff.