The African Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) has called on the Federal Ministry of Finance to fine-tune the operation of the Vehicle Registration (VREG) portal to avoid inconsistencies observed therein or scrap it in the event that it could not be fixed.
The Chairman of APFFLON, PTML chapter, Mr. Darrick Jude Ige who made the call in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos recently observed that the only challenge facing the importers and their agents at the moment was the challenge posed by VREG.
According to Ige, “It is so challenging that people have to pay twice before the VREG will be confirmed. Sometimes, you will pay the first one, there will be no confirmation for payment and then, you have to pay again. Even when you want to pay, the system will say that the Chassis Number you want to pay for has been captured and paid for. So, for you to move forward, you have to doctor a figure.
“Who are you going to cry to? Are you going to Abuja because of VREG for one vehicle? And it happens to almost everybody especially since January. As at last year, we are talking about server down time but since January, we are no longer talking about the server failure but the scam on the server.”
Asked to explain what he meant by scam on the server, he said, “You pay twice on a consignment. You pay the first time, there will be no confirmation and no receipt generated. You call the command, they will tell you that there is nothing they can do. And when the first payment is not confirmed and they ask you to pay again, what do you call it?
“So, for me, I will ask that that VREG be scrapped if they are not able to bring it up to standard because it is setting this industry back especially the clearing process. Before you access VREG alone, it will take up to one to two weeks and demurrage is counting, importer will be disturbing. All the agents now are disturbing the associations accusing them of not doing anything.
“So, the most challenging problem facing agents now is the VREG and it is not a command problem, it is from the Federal Ministry of Finance not even the Nigeria Customs Service.”
He however, acknowledged that VREG was a new innovation adding that like in every innovation, there would always be teething problem.
“So, we want to give them a period of grace to see if they will grow above the teething problem and if the grace period elapses and it still continue, we will now think of what to do. At least, let’s give them till the end of February 2022”, he said.
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