CBN To Clamp Down On Naira Sellers, PoS Operators
Category: Nigeria News
As the currency redesign policy continues to generate confusion across the
country, the Central Bank of Nigeria has vowed to clamp down on Point of Sale
owners, who have turned themselves to payment agents, to take advantage of
members of the public.
The apex bank described such unaccredited
payment agents as fifth columnists whose activities constituted economic
sabotage, saying that it would carry out sting operations around the country
this week to arrest and prosecute them.
READ: Banks, Filling Stations, Supermarkets Reject Old Naira Notes
The Director, Governor’s Department, CBN, Mr Joseph Omayuku, who stated these
while briefing journalists in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on Monday evening, said
the sharp practices were discovered after reviews of the implementation of the
policy.
He said that these PoS operators also engage in the
selling of naira notes for naira notes to buyers amidst rejection of online
payments by some business operators, including petrol stations and
supermarkets.
Omayuku said, “Further reviews have indicated that
it does appear as if there are fifth columnists operating in this system, and
these fifth columnists, as it appears, are anybody that has PoS access.
Several of them have now taken to the unfortunate activity of turning
themselves to payment agents.
READ: We Have Been Begging Banks To Take New Notes, We Will Start Penalizing Them – CBN
“So you find out that even next to petrol stations, their agents or PoS
operators next to them are there who you will go to, to sell money to you and
you take that money to go and buy petrol; and not just petrol stations, in
short, everywhere.
“From this week, there will be very sting
operations around the country. Because this (selling of naira) is the
incentive. The incentive is that they can sell our currency to us, which is
not supposed to be. You cannot be selling naira to us.”
He said
the CBN also frowned on the exorbitant commissions on transactions that
payment agents collect from customers as against the approved charges,
describing their activities as fraudulent.
READ: President Buhari Unveils Re-Designed Naira Notes
Omayuku further said, “The operational arrangement for payment agents is
that they take a commission for transaction and this commission is not more
than N100 or N200 for transaction of up to N10,000. But we have heard of cases
where people are being charged N1,000 or N2,000. This is certainly fraudulent;
this is rogue operation.
“The management of the CBN and the leaders
of the country do not subscribe to any logic that will allow people to operate
like this. So, the security agencies will be very active this week, going
forward.”
He warned those engaged in illegal practices to turn a
new leaf and advised members of the public to report perpetrators by
contacting the CBN Contact Centre on 07002255226; Telephone Ext: 711025 – 7;
contactcbn@cbn.gov.ng and its social media handles.
READ: Scarcity of New Naira Notes: Reps Threaten To Issue Arrest Warrant On Emefiele
The CBN official also debunked claims that the existing online platforms
were not effective to support large volume of economic activities, stressing
that the challenges associated with the online system “are not as bad as to
warrant rejection of transfer payments.”
in the west or in the north? because these your operations are not getting there up north.
ReplyDeleteIf pos have access to the currency the way they do,do you think they will be charging people high like that,when majority of them will be at the matching from night till the following morning in the name of getting new not and customer that slept his or her comfort house will just come and collect such money at a normal price?
ReplyDeleteI now know this guys as meant
Some of those guys that are getting money from filling stations are paying for it as well and we expect them to charging normal fee for transaction, how is that possible for God's sake??
ReplyDelete