The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has launched a Simplified Practitioners’ Operating Fee (POF) payment process for cargo clearance procedure at the nation’s seaports.
Speaking during the launch held in Lagos recently, the Registrar of the Council, Mr Samuel Nwakohu, described it as a soft launch due to the fact that it would take about three weeks to observe the technology.
Nwakohu educated on the step-by-step process of entering the portal for payment, adding that each account has an e-wallet where funds could be kept aside and activated within 48 hours. He emphasised that OTP would be generated from the banks for security reason.
While giving a detailed explanation of the new payment process, the registrar said the terminal operator has nothing to do with the process, adding that their only role is to verify receipts against the controlled documents.
Nwakohu noted that the portal accepts all cards for payment with its link to the Treasury Single Account (TSA), pledging it would be launched on Google Play Store for easy accessibility.
Meanwhile, the CRFFN Registrar charged clearing agents and freight forwarders to comply with the Council’s annual subscription, saying that members who have not registered fully and paid annual subscription would not be able to log in to access the payment process.
He doused the fears of members of the Council not getting familiar with the new technology, assuring that they would be part and parcel of the portal within the next week.