The Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal (CCPT), which last Thursday fined Stanbic IBTC Bank an hefty N120 million for electronic funds transfer infractions, says that any Nigerian consumer can seek redress under its establishing laws.
Speaking exclusively this morning on Technology Times Live TV, Mr Abdulrahman Fufore, CCPT Principal Legal Officer, says the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018 establishing the Tribunal, provides adequate opportunities and channels for Nigerian consumers to seek redress, in line with its overarching vision to protect the interest, and promote the welfare of consumers across the country.
Stanbic IBTC Bank, the CCPT Principal Legal Officer explains while providing some insights into last Thursday’s decision by the Tribunal to impose the fine on the financial institution, did not just fall short of the FCCPA, but of relevant regulations of banking sector regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“It will interest you to note that it has been 24 to 72 hours after he instructed his bank to carry out that instant transaction. And going by the CBN Regulation, the CBN Regulation on Interbank Instant Transfer, Section 5.2 of the CBN Regulation on Instant Interbank Electronic Funds Transfer mandates a bank to: a.) Return into a customer’s account full proceeds of failed transactions returned by the receiving entities within 10 minutes; and b). Return into customer’s account full proceeds of transaction which a sending entity is unable to process within an hour after the next settlement closure.”
Mr Abdulrahman Fufore, Principal Legal Officer, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA).
CCPT on ‘the facts of Stanbic IBTC Bank’s fine’
“It will interest you to note that it has been 24 to 72 hours after he instructed his bank to carry out that instant transaction. And going by the CBN Regulation, the CBN Regulation on Interbank Instant Transfer, Section 5.2 of the CBN Regulation on Instant Interbank Electronic Funds Transfer mandates a bank to: a.) Return into a customer’s account full proceeds of failed transactions returned by the receiving entities within 10 minutes; and b). Return into customer’s account full proceeds of transaction which a sending entity is unable to process within an hour after the next settlement closure,” Mr Fufore says on Technology Times Live.
The CCPT Principal Legal Officer explains that, “So, from these facts, you would agree with me that there was a lapse of between 24 to 27 hours within which the refund was made, which was in violation of the sector’s specific sector regulator. So, it was based on these infractions that the complainant approached the honourable Tribunal for redress, citing negligence on the part of the defendant. That there exists fiduciary duties, fiduciary relationship between the complainant and the defendant, which fiduciary duty or duty of care, was not met, hence, the complainant approaching the honourable Tribunal for redress.”During the Technology Times Live session, Mr Fufore provided further insights in the Tribunal’s establishing Act, as well as options available for consumers in Nigeria to avail themselves of the opportunities provided by the CCPT to protect and promote their interests as consumers in Nigeria in the video (to be uploaded soon) below:
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