Outcry As NIPOST Imposes New Charges On Courier Services

Many Nigerians have decried the introduction of new costs of licence for logistics and courier services.

The new charges introduced by Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) are expected to cause an increase in the cost of courier services and delivery goods.

According to NIPOST, companies which provide international courier services like DHL, UPS and FEDEX, are expected to pay N20m for a new licence and N8m annually while those who offer national services are expected to pay N10m for licence and 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.

Courier firms that operate within municipalities are to pay N1m for licence and N400,000 annually.

While for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the licence is N250,000 while the annual renewal of the licence is N100,000.

The SME category is for small courier firms which have not more than five delivery vehicles.

The move, according to reports, would increase the cost of goods purchased online and delivery services.

Many small business mainly serve their customers online and depends on courier and logistics companies to deliver goods to their customers. The practice is most common in Lagos, Oyo state and Abuja.

Lagos State, which is the commercial nerve centre of the country, reportedly have over 300 courier services, many of whom are not registered with NIPOST.

The new charges imposed by NIPOST, according to Punch, are part of an attempt to increase its revenue and sanitise the system.

The General Manager, Corporate Communications, Franklin Alao, said in a statement that the new regulations were not planned to frustrate ease of doing business rather they aimed to promote growth of MSMEs.

He stated;

It is part of the strategies to ensure effective service delivery as consumers would know the capacities of the operators they are dealing with. Kindly note that consumers of the courier service would be better off as this will drive charlatans out of the industry. Genuine and serious operators would come back to celebrate this move by the NIPOST.

However, the charges have however sparked negative reactions from many Nigerians especially Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) owners.

Many online retailers and other aggrieved Nigerians have taken to social media to lament the new development.