Passengers Kick as NRC, Other Transporters Refuse Bank Transfer, Demand Extra Charges

Travelers boarding commercial vehicles and those going through rail across different parts of Nigeria have lamented the refusal of transporters to adopt cashless payment systems.

They said they are being stranded while embarking on trips because the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and other commercial transporters have insisted on cash payment for their transactions.

According to some affected passengers, other businesses are exploring the Point of Sale and online banking services, and that they expect officials of the NRC and members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to accept bank transfers or get used to using the PoS service.

While others refuse blatantly to abide by the cashless means of payment, Investors King gathered that some other road and rail workers who manage to take transfer demand extra charges from travellers.

According to them, commercial drivers who reluctantly take bank transfers ask them to pay some token close to ten percent of the fare before they could take such a transfer.

They urged the Federal Government to prevail on NRC and commercial transporters across the country to imbibe the cashless channels of payment, stressing that the refusal of electronic channels of payment is worsening their challenge.

At the Mobolaji Johnson Station in Lagos, it was discovered that ticket officials were only accepting new naira notes.

The same situation was seen at the Babatunde Fashola Station where the ticketing officials accepted only new notes and refused to attend to passengers who were willing to make bank transfers.

According to one of the officials, the management does not allow bank transfers and neither does it deploy the use of PoS machines because it is against their policy.

Lamenting the development, one of the affected passengers said he was not allowed to make electronic payment, adding that he had to pay with the little new notes he had on him.

Reacting, the District Manager for Lagos, NRC, Augustine Arisa, said there was no cash anywhere and that everyone including the rail officials were affected.

He said the NRC was collecting only new notes and that the rail system does not use PoS.

Arisa disclosed further that since the rail system is not using e-ticketing, passengers would have to pay cash.

He said the reception of cash payment would continue until officials are given the go-ahead on e-ticketing. He maintained that that passengers who only have bank transfer as means of payment would not be able to board the rail.

It was discovered that officials of the rail passing through Lagos-Ibadan route are mostly affected in the demand for cash.