TheCable

The Lagos government and transport stakeholders in the state have signed an agreement on harmonised dues to be collected from commercial motorists.

Present on Tuesday at the signing of the agreement, tagged ‘Consolidated Informal Transport Sector Levy’, were representatives of the state, local government, and various unions in the transport sector.

In a statement by the state government, Rabiu Olowo, commissioner for finance, was quoted as saying the levy was pegged at a flat rate of N800 which will be paid by commercial motorists on a daily basis.

Olowo said the N800 covers the local government levy and the fee for waste clearing at motor parks, which is paid to the ministry of transportation, Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).

The commissioner added that the harmonised levy will reduce multiple taxes and levies, eradicate harassment of bus drivers and provide reliable data.

He also said the collection of the N800 levy will take effect on February 1, 2022, adding that tax cards would be issued to commercial motorists.

“The N800 is a single structured collection of the monies payable to all government agencies and parties who are directly or indirectly associated with the transport sector,” he said.

“What the government has done is to organise the collection and reduce the multiplicity of levies and all sorts of taxes, dues and monies due to government from the transport unions.

“Bus drivers will get tax cards, and the issue of arbitrary payments will be eradicated once they pay from the point of their loading each day.”

‘N800 LEVY WON’T STOP NURTW TICKET’

On his part, Musiliu Akinsanya, chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers Union (NURTW) in Lagos, better known as MC Oluomo, said the N800 levy will not stop the union from collecting its “normal statutory levy”.

“The harmonised levy will not affect the national union ticket. What it is aimed at consolidating are all the levies collected by the government and it was the unions that approached the government to help us harmonise the payment of all the levies it has been collecting to prevent duplication of levies,” he was quoted as saying.