- Demand Outrageous Commission As Frustrated Customers Pay #2,000 For #5,000 payment
Despite stiff measures put in place by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN to check the excesses of bank officials and Point of Sale operators, frustrated Nigerians, yet to access the new banknotes are being fleeced daily by bank Tellers and PoS Operators who demand Outrageous Commission for every cash withdrawals.
Investigations across major cities in Nigeria by The New diplomat, showed that PoS Operators demand #1,000 as commission for payment of #5,000 in Ikorodu area of Lagos.
A PoS operator in Lagos who would not want his name in print, disclosed that accessing the new banknotes has become a herculean task as they were compelled by the bank Teller to pay #1,000 for the payment of #20,000, adding that the cost of the unethical transaction are subsequently transmitted to the unsuspecting customer.
The POS operator who stated that the raised monitoring committee by the federal government charged with the responsibility of checking under table dealings had not been effective in it’s operations as most banks in Lagos seem to ignore the directive of the CBN Governor.
Another PoS operator, Folanke at Obalende, Lagos, told The New diplomat that she is only dispensing old naira notes accruing from daily cash sales she generates from her provision store.
Hear her:” I charged #500 as against #100 for every #5,000. Only few PoS Operators are currently in business because they could not access either the old or new naira notes in the bank. We pay customers with money we generate from the sale of goods in our stores instead of going to the bank to make deposit.”
In Warri, Delta state, south south Nigeria, the situation is reportedly worse as PoS Operators who make brisk business, demand #2,000 as against #200 for every #5,000 withdrawal.
Narrating his ordeal to The New diplomat, a civil servant, Theophilus Efeurohobo said after being frustrated at the bank where he wasted the whole day without success, he was left with no option than to pay the outrageous commission of #2, 000 for #5,000 payment for the sake of his children who must not go to bed with an empty stomach.
At the nation’s capital, Abuja, PoS Operators charged a minimum of not less than #200 as against the standard charge of #100 for #5,000 payment.
A PoS operator in Enugu state, South East Nigeria, Tony Iheme said there is no standard charge for cash withdrawals as it largely depends on the operator. ” It’s like conventional buying and selling of goods.
Nobody is business to make a lose. Certainly if the bank charges #100 for payment of #20,000, I won’t hesitate to add some amount of money on it so I could make profit and cover my transport expense to the bank,” he said.
Despite the CBN’s directive to commence the payment of the new naira notes at Over The Counter (OTC), subject to a maximum of #20,000 daily withdrawal, Nigerians are left stranded as virtually all banks in most cities refused to pay customers in either the old or new naira notes.
The CBN Director of Corporate Communication, Osita Nwanisobi disclosed during the week in Abuja that the Apex bank is working assiduously to address the challenges that have led to long queues experienced in banks nationwide.
The CBN spokesman, however, appealed to Nigerians to embrace and adopt other payment channels.
In the same vein, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed on Thursday, appealed to Nigerians to endure the hardships occasioned by demonetization exercise, adding that “there is no gain without pain”.
She assured Nigerians that inherent gains expected to be achieved by the exercise surpasses the current hardships they are currently confronted with as the Minister further disclosed that the policy has helped to mop up humongous amount of money that were out of the nation’s financial system.
