The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has charged Telecommunication Companies to do more in protecting their consumers who use their networks for financial transactions.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta, said this on Tuesday during this year’s World Consumer Rights Day celebration.
He also said that some of these consumers must cope with vulnerabilities in using digital financial services, as some of the challenges are further worsened by unscrupulous people that exploit consumer vulnerabilities for illicit gains.
“The theme of this year’s World Consumer Rights Day, as announced by Consumer International, “Fair Digital Finance” calls for stakeholders to do more in protecting consumers and keeping them informed.
“This is because more people are signing up for digital financial services like banking, insurance, and investment management. Juniper Research predicts that users of digital banking services would increase by 54% from 2.4 billion in 2020 to exceed 3.6 billion by 2024.
“However, some of these consumers must cope with vulnerabilities in using digital financial services. These challenges of adapting to digital platforms for transactions are further worsened by unscrupulous people that exploit consumer vulnerabilities for illicit gains.
“All stakeholders have the responsibility to protect consumers against losses on account of their adopting digital platforms; they should enjoy the protection as obtained on the legacy platforms,” he said.
Professor Danbatta said that NDEPS 2020-2030 adequately addressed the protection of telecom consumers against the threats of cybercrime, encouraging them to embrace digital finance and supporting them to contribute to the digital economy.
He said the Commission is committed to fulfilling its mandate and passionate about driving Digital Economy in Nigeria, has continued to implement initiatives in this regard.
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“Through its Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB), it undertakes constant Consumer Education with a significant part of this effort dedicated to providing information that equips the Consumer to thrive in a world that has embraced digital finance.
“Through its outreach programs, which have been re-tooled to reflect existing realities and trends, Consumer Affairs Bureau now has consumer-centric initiatives that include Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP), Telecom Consumer Town Hall on Radio (TCTHR), Telecom Consumer Conversations (TCC) as well as social media platforms and a Consumer Portal that are avenues for telecom consumers to access education materials that include how to safeguard themselves while using telecom platform to access digital financial products,” he said.
The NCC EVC said to further protect telecom consumers, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) periodically notifies telecom consumers of the latest cybersecurity threats and how to avoid falling victims to them.
The Executive Commissioner Stakeholder Management of the NCC, Barrister Adeleke Adewolu, said the theme of this year’s celebration is appropriate because it is time to address issues that would make access to, and usage of digital financial services safer for the consumer.
“Fortunately, over the years, the Commission has remained unwavering in its commitment to the telecom consumer. The annual commemoration of World Consumer Rights Day is, therefore, a catalyst for the Commission to scale up what it is already doing to protect, inform and educate the telecom consumer.
“Today’s event will shed light on the policies, initiatives, programmes, and activities that the Commission implements towards protecting the rights and addressing the concerns of the Nigerian telecom consumer, especially as they pertain to fair digital finance,” he added.
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NCC charges telecoms to protect consumers during online financial transactions