By our reporters

Trust, the five-letter word that gave rise to the concept of banking is currently on trial in the Nigerian financial services industry.
This is because depositors’ confidence in the ability of their bankers to protect and manage their wealth in line with agreed terms, is on the verge of collapse. Stakeholders believe it is also an indication that the gains of financial inclusion largely promoted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the commercial banks would ultimately be lost as more customers are threatening to close their accounts over unauthorised charges.
Already, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the advocacy of consumer rights and protection in Nigeria, Consumer Advocacy Forum of Nigeria (CAFON), is currently mobilising bank depositors to pull out their funds.
“By the time we get about one million customers to close such accounts, the banks will have no opportunity to continue with these rip-offs,” said its President, Sola Salako.
Aside this, the introduction of various charges by the banks have also been condemned as counter-productive, particularly , to the apex bank’s agenda on financial inclusion. “I have also made it clear that you do not want to drive financial inclusion and you are taking money from principal amount of depositors that have nothing to do with income”, says Mr Johnson Chukwu, the CEO of Cowry Assets Management Limited.
For his part, Thomas Adigun, who lamented that “a savings account with which banks trade with customers’ deposit is no longer yielding any form of profit for the customers due to all the deductions made monthly or even daily. It’s a negation of any known banking practice on savings account;  it is this kind of cheating of customers that is now forcing some people to keep their monies in their homes rather than with banks,” says Adigun.
Recall that in January 2016, in line with the Federal Government’s drive to shore up non-oil revenue, CBN directed commercial banks as well as other financial institutions under its regulation, to, with immediate effect, commence charging N50 per eligible transaction in accordance with the provisions of the Stamp Duties Act and the Federal Government Financial Regulations 2009. The fee is charged on all receipts given by any bank or other financial institutions in acknowledgement of services rendered in respect of electronic transfer and other teller deposits from N1,000 and above.
The apex bank stated this in a circular entitled: Collection and Remittance of Statutory Charges on Receipt to Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) Under the Stamp Duties Act.
Then the tax was expected to yield about N66.1billion to Federal Government’s coffers as part of non-oil revenue.
However, on April 21 2016, the Court of Appeal ruled that an end be made to the deductions, describing it as illegal.
But despite that, the banks have continued with the deductions ignoring the order.
Commenting on this then, the Director General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association(NECA),Mr. Segun Osinowo, raised the alarm that CBN had failed to comply with the court ruling.
According to Oshinowo, the deduction did not only affect corporate bodies but all Nigerians, including the vulnerable.
“NECA and organised private sector had opposed attempts by the Nigeria Postal Service to compel companies to affix a N50 postal stamp on all receipts, invoices and documents evidencing transaction of N1, 000 and above.
”NECA had also kicked against the CBN directive to banks based on its illegality and in the light of a pending litigation in the court on the matter,” he said.
The director-general said that it was worrisome that the apex bank had refused to comply with the ruling in the matter between Kasmal International Services Ltd. and Access Bank and 23 others.
”We (NECA) are concerned about the failure of CBN to reverse its directive to banks to halt charging of N50 per transaction.
”We advise the apex body to direct banks to stop further deductions and refund all deductions in the past,” Oshinowo said.
He appealed to government agencies to shun policies that would increase the burden on the citizens.
But Mrs Salako had also slammed CBN for disobeying court order. She lamented that the confusion about stamp duty charge and all other forms of arbitrary charges by banks were being promoted by the regulator.
The CAFON boss said it remained regrettable that a government agency such as the CBN could be at the forefront of promoting illegality, stating that there are two court injunctions from the High Court and Appeal Court restraining the banks from further collection of the charges.
She explained that despite the injunctions, the CBN recently directed the banks to re-commence the collection of the charges, and to backdate the collection from January 2017.
And to discourage this illegality, she said her association has taken about 16 banks to court and was awaiting for a judge to be assigned the case for hearing.
But the CBN spokesman, Mr Isaac Okoroafor, absolved the apex bank of any wrongdoing. According to him, some of the previous court cases were not filed against the CBN, but against Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and that CBN was joined as a regulator, adding that NIPOST has appealed.
“It is after the court issues a counter order that the Stamp Duty deduction will stop.But as of now, it is not likely to change. People are waiting for the court ruling”, he said.
On what CAFON is doing, Mrs. Salako said all efforts are currently geared towards sensitising the public to close about one million accounts, explaining that consumers in some cases have more than one account, operate only one, thereby making them vulnerable to arbitrary charges from banks.
‘’There is no point having five accounts that are not operational. Why not close them and notify the banks through a letter, so that all charges including card maintenance fee, stamp duty charge, SMS charge and other forms of hidden charges can be removed.
“It will surprise you that banks even make charges on accounts that are dormant, which is against the CBN law. Once an account is dormant it becomes inactive. But the banks in their desperate bid to rake in revenue will still continue to make charges on such accounts. That is illegal and a rip off.
“By the time we get about one million customers to close such account, the banks will have no opportunity to continue with these rip-offs,” she said.
Narrating his own experience, one customer who identified himself as Andrew Ezomo, gave details of how he was surcharged for  an unsuccessful transfer of funds at an ATM machine at one of the banks at the airport shortly before flying out to Rome.
“The IT and electricity system we have in Nigeria is still flawed for banks to start taking so many charges from customers because some people will capitalise on them and swindle unsuspecting people. I had a case where they debited my account for an unsuccessful transaction as well as the stamp duty charge. I only knew that the person didn’t get the money a day after I arrived in Rome. For almost three months they didn’t rectify the mistake and it took the next three months, following my return to Lagos to pursue the case and get my right back,” he said.
Another customer, Thomas Adigun, who said he lives in Dublin, narrated an experience when he came back to Lagos to withdraw money from his bank account only to be told it was dormant and upon its activation, he found out that he had been debited for maintenance, SMS and other charges on an account he was told was dormant. “I couldn’t believe what I saw and immediately complained to the bank manager,” he said.
“I am on the case because I want to prove to them that the debits they made were illegal on an account they had barred as dormant after six months of no active transactions. It only shows that the banks are not tidying their own end of the job very well,” he added.
According to Mr. John Chukwu, it is an absurd to charge stamp duty on deposits. According to him, “it is absolutely wrong to take stamp duty from depositors. Deposit is not a receipt, it is a custodianship. A receipt is evidence of payment for service on which stamp duty can be charged. So, taking stamp duty on any transaction an individual make in a bank is wrong, no matter how little,  because deposit in a bank did not amount to receipt of revenue. Deposit slip is not an evidence of receipt of service rendered. So, it is an absurd that the central bank or the Federal Government is now charging stamp duty on monies of depositors. What that means is that, they are deducting from peoples savings and account balances for no just reason.”
Also sharing her ordeal, a bank customer, Mrs. Fidelis Chukwuemeka, frowned not only on stamp duty but other charges by banks. She pointed out that she operated a savings account with one of the banks and she was being charged on minimum balance in her account at the end of the month.
“Apart from these, recently, I was also notified by my bank that I would also be charged N50 every month for my ATM card maintenance and I asked what are they maintaining on a card that is with me? This is apart from other charges like SMS charge, N100 maintenance fee for the ATM machines and others,” Mrs. Chukwuemeka said.
On what Consumer Protection Council (CPC) is doing about all these complaints, its Deputy Director, Public Relations, Mr. Abiodun Obimuyiwa, said the council was aware of the excessive charges by the banks, adding that CPC was already taking steps to address the issue.
He said since the coming on board of the new Director General, Mr. Babatunde Irukera, has been meeting with regulators in different sectors to see how some of the challenges encountered by consumers could be resolved.
Specifically, he said Irukera had met with the management of CBN on how best to resolve all consumer complaints in relations to charges.
‘‘You know the DG is new. And all he has been doing since he came on board is to create synergy among industry regulators and the Council to ensure that consumers are not in any way surcharged. We appeal to consumers for their understanding, while we try to address all the knotty issues.”

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