FG Orders Oil Marketers to Accept Cashless Payments, Deploys Security Agencies to Filing Stations

The Federal Government of Nigeria has expressed displeasure over reports that filling stations are reusing to accept mobile bank transfers and credit cards from customers buying their products.

It, therefore, ordered oil marketers across the country to desist from such attitude, saying that it was adding to the frustrations of citizens who have been battling scarcity in Nigeria.

To forestall the rejection of cashless transactions by petroleum products retailers, the Federal Government said it will deploy security agencies to filling stations across the country to enforce the use of Point of Sale machines and the acceptance of bank transfers at the various outlets.

Specifically, the government in a statement issued by General Manager, Corporate Communications and Stakeholders Management of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Kimchi Apollo in Abuja, directed all retail outlets to ensure the free use of POS and bank transfer for the sale of petroleum products to alleviate the suffering of customers.

Apollo said the failure of the oil marketers to embrace cashless policy is causing untold hardship for Nigerians at a time when all hands should be on deck to assist the government in the transition to the new naira.

According to the NMDPRA, it would work with law enforcement agencies to enforce the use of POS machines and acceptance of cash transfers at retail outlets, stressing that oil marketers who flout the directive would be dealt with.

He reassured Nigerians of the authority’s commitment to ensuring good quality service in the sale and distribution of petroleum products nationwide.

Investors King had reported that some Nigerians, especially vehicle owners have been turned back at some filling stations who refused to accept bank transfers nor use POS as means of payment.

Aside this, other traders who use POS for payments reportedly charge their customers more for receiving payment via alternative payment channels.

One of the affected individuals, who simply identified himself as Ayinla, informed Investors King how a food vendor in Osogbo, capital of Osun State debited him extra N500 after buying food worth N5,500 from the seller.

Ayinla said, “I went with my friends to the Ogo-Oluwa Area in Osogbo to eat at an eatery. After eating, we asked the woman selling the food to calculate our bill, she did and informed us it’s N5,500. I have her my ATM card to use on the POS she is having. When she gave me the machine for me to input my password, I saw she had dialled N6,000 as the money she wants to debit.

“Surprised, I asked her why the extra charge of N500, she said it was the charge of paying through POS. I was shocked. We started altercation and at the end of the day, we stopped her from extorting us. This is what many Nigerians now go through in the hands of greedy traders who want to exploit already frustrated Nigerians at this critical period,” he lamented.