Threat by the Federal Government to sanction filling stations rejecting Point of Sale (PoS) device and transfer for payment of petroleum products purchased in the wake of naira scarcity appears to have done so little to whip marketers into line.

Findings at the weekend revealed that filling stations in parts of Lagos are still rejecting the use of PoS device and transfers as means of payment for sale of fuel by marketers.

Rather than comply with the Federal Government directive, the filling stations in connivance with some PoS operators who usually stay close to the filling station have devised strategies to refer motorists to the PoS operators for cash at a premium.

Some of the PoS operators charge as much as N2,000 on N10,000 withdrawal and N1000 for N5,000 withdrawal.

Some of the motorists at the affected filling stations in Surulere, Abule-Egba and Mushin expressed disappointment over the development, saying filling stations closer to PoS operators were the ones supplying cash for such illegal transactions.

They lamented that the situation has reached a level where filling stations now use the recent downtime in interconnectivity among banks as reasons for the epileptic services with their PoS.

A motorist who identified himself as Mr. Julius Adetoba, claimed that most of the filling station managers have turned their relatives to PoS operators. He said the cash they get from hapless customers are taken to their PoS locations not too far from the filling stations where people now access cash at a premium.

Adetoba’s claims were further corroborated by Mr. Adelani Lawal, who said the Federal Government’s directive has not yielded any positive results since filling stations are now inflicting more pains on Nigerians by rejecting PoS transactions and bank transfers.

The Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory (NMDPRA) had last Wednesday, threatened to sanction filling stations that reject bank transfers and the use PoS as means of payment for sale of petroleum products.

A statement from NMDPRA said the Authority frowns at this recent behavior which is causing untold hardship for Nigerians at a time when all hands should be on deck to assist the government in the transition to the new naira.

NMDPRA disclosed that it has come to its attention that some retail outlets are not accepting the use of PoS device at their filling stations due to the recent cash crunch brough about the new naira redesign.

The statement warned that the Authority and security agencies will be at retail outlets to ensure compliance with the directive and any filling station found violating the directive will be duly sanctioned.

‘‘All retail outlets are directed to ensure the free use of PoS and bank transfer for the sale of petroleum products to alleviate the suffering of customers at this critical time. ‘‘ We reassure the general public of our commitment to ensuring good quality service in the sale and distribution of petroleum products nationwide,” the statement read. (Daily Sun)

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