At its core, the goal of this commission is to look after customers, to ensure that they're never exploited. By pushing for safety, reliability, and market responsibility, a better and more healthy system emerges, but the benefits can be deeper than we might think.
Addressing customer's best interests through consumer protection
Established in 2018 by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) acts as the foremost consumer protection authority in Nigeria.
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By working within the guidelines set by the FCCPC, it has become possible for businesses to vastly improve customer loyalty and industry health alongside the benefits to overall safety. As for why this is necessary, and how it manifests in real-world situations, that requires a little background.
Why is the FCCPC Necessary?
As much as certain groups might claim otherwise, there is always a need to protect the people from big companies with unscrupulous morals. He who makes the money makes the rules, as the saying goes, and these rules can be unfair at best, or outright harmful at worst. The FCCPC acts as a form of regulatory oversight, where it can step in when a business or industry begins to head down the wrong path.
Here in Nigeria, we've seen this recently with how the pay-TV service Multichoice operates. Acting as a near monopoly, Multichoice went through the act of laying off many Nigerian workers and increasing the price of packages back in 2020. They claimed that this was due to a weakening of the Naira, but critics weren't convinced.
Understanding just how much power that Multichoice had, the FCCPC jumped in to determine if everything was above board. Unlike Multichoice, whose main concern was their own profit, the FCCPC aimed more to protect the people of Nigeria, so they served as a trusted investigator.
Benefits in Action
Acting from a place of protectionism builds confidence within an industry, and the effects of such plans in action can be immensely rewarding for those acting in good faith. Another example of this concept could be found in Nigeria’s National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC). Formed in 2006, this commission was developed specifically to ensure the safety of gambling establishments within the country. If you want to act as a gambling service, you need to coordinate with the NLRC, and this is a route taken by many other nations.
Acting as an older and larger market, the best online casinos in the United States have had to follow similar rules. Today, this arm of the gambling industry alone is worth many billions of dollars annually, bolstered by easy access and bonuses like deposit matches and free cash. Held in the highest regard internationally, it's the safety of these services that acts as the backbone for engagement.
Without these safety commissions and in a situation free from regulation, there would be nothing in the way of unfair tactics that would drag an entire industry like iGaming down. In this scenario, it could be possible for a big casino to find fame through paid celebrity endorsements that draw in many new players. Smaller players could then find themselves treated as second-class citizens, where fine print or even outright theft might go unnoticed and unaddressed, due to a lack of regulation.
Going Above and Beyond
Working within the bounds of protective acts, businesses can thrive as they wouldn't otherwise. Each time a customer has a positive experience or recovers from a negative experience in a fair way, they're much more likely to engage again. Over time, this can foster a significant ecosystem of trust, where both customers and businesses come out ahead. Criminals and those who would exploit their way to make money would suffer, but then a functional society doesn't rely on these elements to succeed.
For those who work with the regulations from names like the FCCPC, there are always going to be some additional complications through strong standards of safety which must be adhered to. In the long run, however, these standards only serve to create a healthier environment for everyone involved. The process can be tedious, but experience serves to streamline the process for the betterment of everyone involved. For brand loyalty, industry confidence, and consumer safety, such systems are for the best.
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