The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) will widen its scope on robust enforcement and wider consumer education come 2020, Babatunde Irukera, the director-general of the commission said on Friday.
Babatunde gave the information while speaking with newsmen in Abuja even as he asked media representatives to join in advocacy on enlightening consumers for their rights in the country.
“The commission has just about 240 staff nationwide servicing prompt response of about 200 million Nigerians in the country. We are using the instrument of social media to deliver prompt responses to Nigerians and other means,” he said.
Speaking further, he noted that the approach would focus on holding companies accountable with specific focus on how they respond to consumer complaints.
“We would be focusing on mechanisms that put them on their toes to create consumer satisfaction while prioritising consumer rights. Timely resolution of complaints is our target,” he explained .
He explained further that the customer commercial contract is with the company and not the federal government, even as he assured that the government would keep consolidating on the gains of its regulatory role to drive regulatory satisfaction.
The director-general added that the commission is in transition, as he noted that the since he enactment of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Act issues bothering on arbitrary increase of price, procedures of merger acquisition and competitive fair pricing are being adequate addressed.
“There are certain sharp practices that you cannot do now because you know the regulator is on alert. We have been strengthened with the new act and it is advancing our work,” he said.
He added that the new act had given them power to have tribunal and are working out model to set up judges and panel for establishment.
Babatunde noted further that since the regulatory intervention by the commission, complaints on Multi Choice Nigeria Limited had drastically reduced.
“If we had been having 500 complaints previously, it has drastically reduced to about two or three per week,” he said.
