Strengthening the Effectiveness of Uganda’s Consumer Protection Framework

There is a need to promote trust in the financial sector by putting robust consumer protection measures in place – this will help protect lower-income borrowers from poor market conduct and bridge the credit gap in the market. Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSD Uganda) and Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa) commissioned a mystery shopping assessment of local financial institutions’ compliance to Uganda’s consumer protection framework and guidelines. The assessment sought to measure the types and quality of loan product information these institutions – which provide credit products to individuals and businesses – present to low-income borrowers and shed light on weaknesses in compliance to disclosure frameworks and guidelines.

The exercise revealed gaps in compliance related to disclosure of the total cost of credit and interest rates and further highlighted the need for improved monitoring as the numbers and types of charges grow. Several policy recommendations aimed at improving consistency in information disclosure, increasing access to relevant documentation and expanding Uganda’s consumer protection agenda have been included in the report.