Several retail outlets in Lagos, especially Fuel filling stations and food vendors have in the last few days shunned the use of Point of Sales (PoS) machine for the payment of services rendered to customers with many of them citing network instability.
But a check by ITPulse shows that the refusal to use PoS may not be unconnected with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s stopping the collecting N50 Point of Sale (PoS) Stamp Duty fee from customers.
In fact, a popular food vendor off Allen Avenue in Ikeja-Lagos posted a notice on the outlet, saying ‘Only Cash Payment, PoS not Allowed’. When asked what could be responsible for such a decision, the salesperson simply ‘It is our new policy’.
At the Mobile Filling Station on the Guinness end of Oba-Akran and Ogba on Oba Ogunji junction, the experience was not different as the Fuel Attendants simply say ‘We are not longer using PoS.
Toward the end of last year, retail outlets were charging customers N50 per POs usage, claiming it is the new CBN policy on stamp duty. But the apex bank denied the claim, saying it never asked merchants to charge N50 from the customers.
The CBN explained that the stamp duty is a fee regulated by an Act, which mandated all merchants to pay all necessary charges as regulated by the government agency, including stamp duty.
“What our directive says is that merchants should pay all necessary charges as regulated by the government agency, including stamp duty. When there is an electronic transaction for an account other than a savings account and the transaction amount is more than N1,000, you have to pay stamp duty,” the apex bank said in a circular signed by Musa Jimoh, CBN Director, Payment System Management Department.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria is making more efforts to deepen e-payment adoption with the new post rule.
The reports, which also quoted CBN Director, Payment System Management Department, Musa Jimoh, noted that the new move is part of the apex bank’s commitment to facilitate the development of the Nigerian payment system and deepen the adoption of various electronic payment options available to users.
According to the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), the total volumes of post transactions for 2017 stood at 146.3 million, which was worth N1.4 trillion; 285.9 million transactions, in 2018 worth N2.3 trillion and 187.7 million for six months-January to June 2019 worth N1.4 trillion.