Nigeria asks Google to remove 18 digital lending apps for violations - see details here

<span>Nigeria asks Google to remove 18 digital lending apps for violations - see details here</span>, <p>The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) of Nigeria has requested that Google remove 18 digital money lending firms' (DMLs) applications from the Play Store due to violations of registration regulations. The commission said in a statement released on Wednesday and signed by its CEO, Babatunde Irukera.</p>, <p>The apps include Getloan, Camelloan, Cashlawn, Nairaloan, Eaglecash, Moneytreefinance Made Easy, Luckyloan Personal Loan, Joy Cash-Loan, Cashme, Easynaira, Swiftcash, Crediting, Swiftkash, Hen Credit loan; Nut loan; Cash door; Cashpal, and Nairaeasy gist loan.</p>, <p>The aforementioned businesses, despite being registered, will stop operating, according to the FCCPC, unless they can demonstrate conformity with the 2022 interim regulatory/registration framework and rules for digital lending. Therefore, the commission granted the DMLs five days to provide evidence.</p>, <p>In order to prevent unethical acts, the commission revised its list of registered and approved DMLs on July 20, 2023, according to TheCable, a Nigerian newspaper, that reported this new development.</p>, <p>This was brought on by some operators' revival in the use of illegal debt recovery techniques and tactics. “The commission entered an order to Google LLC (Google) to remove the same from the Play Store, and prohibited payment gateways or services from providing or continuing services to the affected businesses,” the statement reads. “The commission, as part of its continuing investigation and audit, has identified additional apps operating on the Google Play Store without regulatory approval or in violation of the guidelines. As a result, the FCCPC said it asked Google to immediately remove, withdraw, or drawdown” the aforementioned apps.”</p>, <p>“The commission will continue engaging Google to clarify how and why apps that have not received relevant regulatory approvals are available on Google’s platform (P