COURT NULLIFIES "NO REFUND OF MONEY AFTER PAYMENT" POLICY. SAYS IT'S ULTRA VIRES THE LAW

 With the enactment of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018 (FCCPA), the legality or otherwise of No Refund Policy is gradually becoming a subject of judicial scrutiny. The combined effect of sections 120 and 129(1)(a)(b)(iii) of the FCCPA is to outlaw the practice of no refund policy in Nigeria subject to the exception provided under the Act. The Nigerian Courts inspired by the said provisions are gradually rising to the occasion and have in recent times struck down such obnoxious practices which many business owners and service providers have used as a shield in order to escape liability for shoddy services or sometimes to arm-twist the customer or client to patronize their services.

The decision by the Lagos State Magistrate Court is a reminder to business owners, vendors and service providers who hide under No Refund Policy to resile from their obligations to clients and customers that the day of reckoning is here. It is illegal to place a bar on the right of customers or consumers to cancel any booking or order made under the guise of No Refund of Money policy. This decision is not alone, The High Court of Enugu State sometime in April 2022 had reportedly ordered Peace Mass Transit (a transport company) to pay N500,000 damages for refusal to refund a lawyer for canceled trip. The Court in that case also held that non refund policy mostly used by service providers to prevent returning payments made to them by their clients/users is illegal as it violates section 120 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018.