NAMFISA orders service providers to pay back N$2m to consumers

BY Confidente Reporter

NAMFISA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kenneth Matomola says they ordered over N$2 million to be paid back to consumers in a consumer protection drive.

He said NAMFISA received various complaints from consumers of financial services between January and March this year.

“The complaints were mainly against the long-term and short-term insurance, pension funds, and micro-lending and credit agreements industries. Most of the complaints were resolved amicably. The complaints were largely attributed to delays in non-payment of pension benefit claims, repudiation of funeral claims, non-cancellation of contracts, and delays in payment of death and refunds,” he said

Matomola urged consumers to know their rights and responsibilities as users of financial products.

“Consumer protection is key to our operations, and therefore I encourage consumers to know their rights and responsibilities as users of financial service products,” he said.

According to Matomola, the total amount paid to complainants owing to NAMFISA’s intervention increased significantly from N$1 769 633 to N$2 237 163 during the quarter ended 31 March 2023.

“The highest amount totalling N$1 422 369.74 was recovered from the pension funds industry, followed by N$742 558.00 from the long-term insurance industry, N$62 089.67 from the short-term insurance industry and N$10 145.32 from the micro-lending industry and credit agreement industry. During the resolution of complaints, NAMFISA identifies conduct issues and root causes in complaints, which are used to determine or influence focus areas for consumer education and supervisory activities.

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