The Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to halt the N50 stamp duty charges for using Point Of Sale, POS, machines.
In a statement sent to journalists on Tuesday, the FCCPC lamented that the merchants’ response of imposing this assessment on consumers was not only inconsistent with the underlying policy but also counterproductive and burdensome on consumers.
“The FCCPC’s strongly held position was that an assessment imposed on merchants necessarily is a component of their cost of doing business, and may only be directly passed on to consumers in limited circumstances.
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“For many reasons, including and particularly the CBN’s effort to promote a cashless economy, the merchants’ response of imposing this assessment on consumers was not only inconsistent with the underlying policy but also counterproductive and burdensome on consumers.
“Merchants are now prohibited from penalising or otherwise, assessing any duty, costs or assessment characterised as ‘stamp duty’ on consumers who select point of sale options to conclude their purchase or transactions,” the statement read in parts.
