Point of Sale, or PoS, agents who are found guilty of price fixing would be subject to a fine of up to N10 million or a three-month prison sentence, according to the federal government.
The Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission made the announcement in a statement released on Monday by Babatunde Irukera, the commission’s executive vice chairman.
Remember how the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents, or AMMBAN, authorised PoS agents, had raised their service fees for withdrawals and deposits?
As a result, the FCCPC issued an Order & Notice (ONC) that was delivered to the executives of AMMBAN and forbade PoS agents from continuing to apply the price increase.
The Commission issued a warning, threatening harsh penalties for its ONC’s defiance.
According to FCCPC, breaking its Order will result in a N1,000,000 punishment for each PoS agents and a N10,000,000 fine or three months in jail.
With the use of the FCCPA, the Commission has legal resources at its disposal to monitor compliance and punish lawbreakers. These fines can be severe, as was already said.
“The Commission advises PoS operators that violation of an order of the Commission attracts additional consequences aside from the underlying illegal conduct that is the subject of the order such as up to N10,000,000 for corporate entities; and N1,000,000 and or a prison sentence of up to three months for individuals,” the statement read.
