The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has commenced enforcement of its new Digital, Electronic, Online, or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations, 2025, introducing penalties of up to N100 million for non-compliant digital lending operators in Nigeria.
The Commission announced the move in Abuja on Wednesday, describing it as a decisive step to rein in abusive lending practices and protect millions of Nigerians who rely on digital credit.
FCCPC executive vice chairman/chief executive officer, Tunji Bello, said the new framework ends years of impunity in the loan app market.
“For too long, Nigerians have endured harassment, data breaches, and unethical practices by unregulated digital lenders,” Bello declared. “These regulations draw a clear line that innovation is welcome, but not at the expense of the rights and dignity of consumers or the rule of law.”
The rules, gazetted and effective July 21, 2025, give the Commission sweeping powers to register, monitor, and sanction all digital and non-traditional lenders. Sanctions include fines of up to N100 million or one per cent of turnover and the disqualification of directors for up to five years.
FCCPC director of corporate affairs Ondaje Ijagwu explained that the regulations specifically target “exploitative practices, data privacy violations, abusive loan recovery tactics, harassment, and anti-competitive behaviour by certain digital lenders and their partners within Nigeria’s rapidly growing digital credit market.”
The Commission said the framework is grounded in Sections 17, 18, and 163 of the FCCPA (2018) and requires mandatory registration for all operators. It prohibits pre-authorised or automatic lending, bans unethical marketing, mandates transparent loan terms, compels joint registration of all lender partnerships, and requires at least one locally owned provider for airtime and data lending services.
The FCCPC also warned that monopolistic or dominance-based agreements in the lending ecosystem will not be permitted without prior approval.
The FCCPC urged Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), Digital Money Lenders (DMLs), and their partners to obtain application forms and compliance guidelines from its website immediately. Consumers, meanwhile, were encouraged to report unlawful or unregistered lenders, unfair interest rates, or privacy breaches to the Commission through its complaints portal.
“This is a landmark in Nigeria’s consumer protection framework. No consumer should be harassed, defamed, or lured into unsustainable debt under the guise of digital lending,” Bello said.
