By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that any financial institution that fails to acknowledge complaints from customers will be sanctioned with fines up to N2 million.
This was contained in the new guidelines of the apex bank’s consumer protection regulations, which seek fair treatment for consumers, proper disclosure and transparency, good business conduct, efficient complaints handling and redress in order to protect the rights of consumers and to hold the institutions accountable.
According to the CBN in the circular issued to all banks, other financial institutions and non-bank financial institutions released recently, the objectives of the regulation are aimed at protecting consumers from unfair and exploitative practices and also ensure transparency of institutions in their dealings.
It was also noted that each week that the bank refuses to address customer’s complaints within the prescribed timelines, they would be asked to pay a fine of N500,000 per week.
Other aspects of the penalties for violating the guidelines by institutions as specified by the CBN include:“Non-resolution of complaints within prescribed timelines attracts a penalty of N500,000 per complaint per week while the infraction subsists.
“Non-acknowledgment of complaints from customer or non-issuance of tracking numbers attracts N2 million per complaint. Non-response to request or failure to comply with CBN directive attracts a penalty of N2 million.”
The CBN also stated further that false or non-rendition of returns/reports would attract N100,000 penalty and also N10,000 for each day the infraction continued.
It was stated that failure to comply with other provisions of the regulations not specified above would attract sanctions provided in the CBN Act, the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), other enabling laws and regulations.
On compliance, the CBN directed that institutions shall, not later than three months after the issuance of the regulations, develop a policy approved by the Board of Directors that documents the processes, procedures and systems designed to ensure compliance with the provisions of the regulations.
