CBN Clears Air On PoS Charges

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that no merchant is to be charged for the use of Point of Sale (PoS) machines, contrary to claims that merchants are being charged N50.

According to the Central Bank, the N50 that was introduced this year was regulated by an act directing merchants to pay all necessary taxes regulated by government agencies

According to CBN's Director of Payment System Management, Musa Jimoh, merchants misconstrued the communiqué sent out by the Central Bank.

“Stamp duty has been misinterpreted, our circular that talks about merchants paying stamp duties according to the law do not say that the consumer should pay the stamp duty; that is a misrepresentation of CBN directive. What our directive says is that merchants should pay all necessary tax as regulated by government agencies, including stamp duty.

“What we told the merchants is that we would like the banks to ensure that the merchants comply with this directive by ensuring that every single payment that customers make to them, the merchants pay the regulated stamp duty of N50.

“What has happened is that they have actually transferred this fee blatantly and openly to the consumers; this is very wrong. No single individual should pay N50 in addition to the cost of the goods.

He stated that “Stamp duty is not to be paid by individuals that are consuming the goods and services of the merchants, the merchants who are receiving the money are the ones who are supposed to pay.”

The apex bank has no intention of axing stamp duties.

“Stamp duty is not a CBN regulated fee, it is a fee regulated by an act, and so we can’t change or push anything in that direction.

"To this, the stamp duty remains and cannot be changed by the CBN, what we are doing is to ensure that the institutions we regulate (the banks) become more responsible for ensuring that these fees are collected and given to the government."