The Federal Government has denied its involvement of the proposed increment of license fee for courier services by the Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST.
The Minister of communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, in a tweet on Saturday morning, insisted that the increase was not part of the regulation he approved for the agency on Friday, July 24.
He tweeted, “Our attention has been drawn to an increase of licence fee, which was not part of the regulation I earlier approved for you,”
According to him, any change in license fees must be approved by the minister before implementation.
He also said, moves to increase fees must be suspended due to present economic hardship faced by Nigerians as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
He added that NIPOST chairman and Post Master General “were yesterday (Friday) contacted to put the implementation on hold and send a report to our ministry by Monday.”
NIPOST’s proposed increase as announced, has generated huge outrage in the public.
The new charges introduced by 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.
