TheCable

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the federal government to review the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) regulations on courier operators.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by Muda Yusuf, director-general, LCCI, on Sunday.

NIPOST, in July, had announced new fees for courier and logistics operators, and the move was greeted with widespread criticism, after which Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, denied approving the new fees.

According to LCCI, the courier industry in Nigeria is one of the most troubled sectors of the economy, and prior to COVID-19, the sector had been grappling with some challenges, such as high cost of logistics, as well as multiple tax and levies by government agencies.

The organisation urged NIPOST to consider a review of the regulations in order to enhance business continuity, private sector development, and job creation in the industry.

“A framework in which NIPOST is both a regulator and operator is detrimental to the development of the courier business in the country,” the statement read.

“Currently NIPOST is vested with powers to regulate its competitors. This arrangement is unfair, inequitable, and inherently repressive.

“It is a negation of the ease of doing business policy of the federal government and inconsistent with the extant competition law of the federal republic of Nigeria.”

LCCI said it has strong reservations about the requirement by NIPOST that a courier and logistic operator must “contribute a sum equal to 2 percent of its total annual revenue to the postal fund”, which will be used for postal development and delivery of postal services in rural and underserved areas.

“We request that this provision be expunged immediately in the interest of investments and investors in the courier and logistics sector of the Nigerian economy,” LCCI said in the statement.

“The provision in the courier regulation which vests the minister with powers to compel any licensed courier and/or logistics services operator to undertake free delivery service for the purpose of universal postal service obligations/or any social service delivery in national interest needs to be reviewed.

“This provision will undermine the confidence of investors in the courier and logistics business and should immediately be repealed.

“It is a negation of the efforts of the federal government to attract investment, create jobs and grow the economy.”