The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) yesterday said it will soon commence enforcement of laws against trade associations engaging in price fixing and cartel-like practices across the country.
According to the Commission, this move will start with the PoS agents group which recently announced an increase in transaction charges.
Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, FCCPC, Mr. Babatunde Irukera, disclosed this, in Lagos, at a workshop on Fair Food Prices in Nigeria jointly organised by Consumers International (CI) and FCCPC.
He said as vital and important as trade associations are to businesses and well being of the society, there are limitations to their operations by law.
Irukera stated: "The trade associations, in many respects, have constituted themselves into cartels, and those cartels are illegal.
Whether at input levels like fertilizer supply or market traders associations, they constitute cartels that control many things including prices. That is not only a violation of law, it's wrong. Trade associations are vital to business, they are important to the well being of society but there are limitations to what they should engage in.
"I can understand the history of why trade associations are important, and they are still important. They are important in bringing members of the associations together, training professionals together, discussing standards and what is good for their businesses, but certainly not to discuss pricing, certainly not to discuss or restrict supply and demand.
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"You can determine new prices individually and provide your services at a price that you consider fair and profitable to your business. But you cannot coordinate, you cannot conspire and you cannot build consensus around a price."
He assured that FCCPC will continue to engage in advocacy that is required for associations to know that they should promote commerce and not disrupt markets. "But we must in addition to advocacy deploy strategies for enforcement, and we must have the will and the stamina to enforce against ourselves, even when the targets of the enforcement are some of the small guys," he added.
Irukera said FCCPC will soon embark on enforcement against the association of PoS operators who are set to hike their charges.
He noted: "Recently, there was an announcement by an association of PoS operators in Nigeria to increase their charges.
"We will enforce against the association, and sadly, if there are small players in the association who comply with the declarations of the association, we will enforce against them also. We will ensure that banks do not provide merchant services to those who actually pursue conducts that have been declared illegal."
