Nigerian Court Upholds FCCPC Digital Lending Authority, Rejects Telecom Licensing Reach
Nigeria's Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has resumed enforcement action against digital lending apps after a court upheld its DEON regulations, while separately ruling that the FCCPC cannot license airtime and data credit providers. Telecoms operators are now demanding a clear regulatory framework from both the FCCPC and the NCC to resolve the resulting jurisdictional vacuum over airtime credit products.
Nigeria Lending: the court drew a line; now two regulators must decide which side they stand on
The FCCPC can police how digital lenders treat borrowers — interest disclosures, debt recovery, data misuse. That authority is now settled.
But the court's other finding is the live problem: airtime credit, a service used by roughly 40 million Nigerians, sits in a gap between the FCCPC and the NCC, Nigeria's telecoms regulator. Neither can claim full jurisdiction alone.
That gap is not abstract. MTN, Airtel and Glo already suspended airtime advance services once because the rules were unclear. The court didn't close that possibility — it just handed the two regulators a shared obligation they haven't yet acted on.
5 sources
- FCCPC resumes enforcement against loan apps as court upholds DEON regulations · technext24.com · T2
- Nigerian court upholds digital lending rules but rejects parallel telecom licencing · techcabal.com · T1
- FCCPC Resumes Loan App Crackdown · innovation-village.com · T2
- FCCPC Resumes Digital Lending Regulations after Court Dismisses WASPAN Suit · techeconomy.ng · T2
- Airtime credit regulation: Telcos demand clear framework from FCCPC and NCC after court ruling · technext24.com · T2