The Association of Nigeria Courier Operators (ANCO) has urged the Federal Government and the National Assembly to re-examine the association’s inputs during the public hearing on Postal Commission Bill, which is awaiting the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari.
It urged the government to incorporate and accommodate them.
In a statement by its President, Okey Ubah; its Secretary, Mrs. Tolu Omamadagha; and PRO, Ranti Shobande, ANCO recalled that during the public hearing, it raised concerns about some sections and clauses in the Bill that “we are averse to”. It said: “We expressed our worry about the two per cent of companies’ annual turnover being paid to the government in view of other payable taxes, such as Value Added Tax (VAT), annual income tax, education tax, local government levies etc.
“On the other hand, we suggested that this should come in form of a commission that would be borne by the consignor, which is the fulcrum of the two per cent contribution to the Universal Postal Union (UPU),” the association said.
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It added: “Furthermore, ANCO stated at the hearing that the exclusivity/exclusive right of shipment weighing one kilogramme being granted the public post operator alone does not augur well for the industry as it is not in line with international best practices. This will give undue advantage to the public post, thus creating an unfair operating environment for investors.
“Our suggestion was that private operators should be allowed to operate in this space and charge three times higher than what the public post is offering.
“We also averred that the fixing of physical postage stamp for any transaction above N1,000 would be cumbersome. Our suggestion was that this could be done electronically.”
“Lastly, that our existing licence shall become invalid six months after the coming into being of the Postal Commission is of great concern to us. It would have grave consequences as this would amount to serious loss of investment and investors’ confidence and deepen unemployment which the current government views with serious concern.
“Our argument is that our licenses should subsist as most of the practitioners have been in practice for several years.”
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