The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, has ordered the Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST to suspend the implementation of the new charges on courier and logistics companies immediately.
Pantami said this in a tweet on Saturday, after NIPOST had publicised a new array of exorbitant charges for logistics companies on Friday, sparking outrage from Nigerians online, with many calling distasteful in the midst of the pandemic.
He said, “Please NIPOST, our attention has been drawn to an increase of licence fee, which was not part of the regulation I earlier approved for you. Your chairman and PMG (Postmaster-General) were yesterday contacted to put the implementation on hold and send a report to our ministry by Monday. Best wishes!
“@NipostNgn, the power of regulation of NIPOST lies with the Minister. Any change of fee must be specific & be approved by him before implementation. I know the economic challenges of NIPOST. However, looking at the economic hardship of our citizens, we need to suspend any move.”
According to the humongous charges NIPOST intends to impose, international courier services like DHL, UPS, and FEDEX are expected to pay the sum of N20m for a new license while paying N8m annually. Also, those courier services who operate nationally would pay N10m for a license, with N4m yearly for renewal.
Logistics companies that operate within regions are expected to pay N5m for licence and N2m annually.
For firms that operate within states, the cost of procuring a licence is N2m while the renewal costs N800, 000.
For Small and Medium Enterprises, the license is N250,000 while the annual renewal of the license is N100,000.
These astronomical charges would have an effect on prices of goods and services online.
