The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has committed to publishing a comprehensive list of unregistered or unlawful loan applications in Nigeria.

This was announced by the FCCPC on Thursday in a formal press release bearing Babatunde Irukera’s signature as Executive Vice Chairman/CEO.

Irukera claimed in the statement that the Commission would also remove from Google Play Store two legitimate, registered loan apps for harassing Nigerians.

In an effort to safeguard the public, the FCCPC further revealed that it had delisted a few loan applications and vowed to close more in the future.

It also said that online moneylenders who haven’t signed up in accordance with its rules have been assigned to its radar for strict monitoring and required action.

“The commission has also placed digital money lenders that have refused or failed to register under the guidelines on its watchlist for strict surveillance and necessary action,” the statement read in part.

“The list of those digital money lenders will be made available on the commission’s website.

“The Commission will continue to scrutinise listed DMLs and periodically update the list to ensure only businesses that consistently and completely comply with the spirit and intention of the regulatory framework are allowed to do business legally in Nigeria.”

It explicitly advised consumers to only use digital money lenders on its approved list in order to protect themselves from falling prey to unlawful and forbidden lending and recovery methods. It asked Nigerians to use caution and prudence while choosing digital money lenders.

The FCCPC listed Sycamore Integrated Solutions Ltd, Orange Loan, Purple Credit Limited, and their respective apps, “Getloan” and “Camelloan,” as the permanently delisted digital lenders, along with Purple Credit Limited.

The commission claimed that after carefully examining the digital lenders’ apps, it decided to delist them.

“In the course of the commission’s continuing investigation and tracking of these illegally operating digital money lenders, the commission has discovered duplicity by at least two otherwise legally registered digital money lenders on the commission’s approval list.”