The Retail Council of Nigeria (RCN)/National Association of Supermarket Operators of Nigeria (NASON), has assured the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) of its readiness to support it in its efforts at ensuring consumers’ rights are not violated in the market segment.

 

 

Giving the assurance at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the RCN/NASON and the FCCPC, in Lagos, recently, a trustee of RCN/NASON, Mr. Haresh Keswani,  stated that just like the FCCPC, the Council is also interested in ensuring that consumers get value for their hard-earned funds.

 

 

Keswani, who is also the Group Managing Director of SPAR, attributed some of the cases of consumer rights violations against some supermarkets, in the country, to issues, likely to have arisen from managing a complex market such as Nigeria’s.

 

He however commended the FCCPC for providing a platform that allowed the retail market operators to vent some of the challenges facing the sector.

 

According to him, the purpose of the meeting was to deliberate on the fact that the journey of a product getting to consumers goes beyond the retailer and  the consumer.

 

“But let me say here that it’s not retail  market’s intention to cheat the consumer. if you don’t understand how complicated retail is in a dynamic market, with technology, and how errors are made, you may easily jump into such conclusion,” Keswani stated.

 

Explaining the rationale behind the commission’s  decision to meet with the supermarket owners, the Acting Executive Vice Chairman, Dr. Adamu Abdulahi stated that the meeting was in sync with the Commission’s mandate  to collaborate with organisations, directly and  indirectly involved in consumer welfare, and business to consumer relationship.

 

He expressed the Commission’s concerns about the level of consumer rights infraction  going on in the nation’s retail space.

 

The FCCPC boss stated that while the Commission does not arrogate to itself a price regulatory function, and would therefore not control prices, it would however desire a level-playing field to ensure an   open market that would enable  people  display their wares and sell at their own prices.

 

He added that the meeting  with the supermarket owners had become imperative since it would enable the two parties be on the same page and make the job of regulating the nation’s retail market space more efficient.