The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the excessive ATM card maintenance charge
The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the excessive ATM card maintenance charges being deducted from customers. The resolution came as part of a motion sponsored by Senator Olugbenga Ashafa (Lagos East, APC) on the illicit and excessive bank charges on customers’ accounts. The Senate also called on commercial banks operating in the country to configure their machines to dispense up to N40,000 per withdrawal pending the outcome of the investigation by the Senate committees tasked with investigating the excessive charges.
President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki said motion on ATM card excessive charges affects all Nigerians. He stated that the Senate must work to ensure that its resolution on the excessive bank charges goes beyond the debate stage, so that whatever action the Upper Legislative Chamber takes, would come into effect.
“This Senate has done this many times before; when there was a hike in the mobile telecommunication data charges, we intervened and put an end to that. When there were discrepancies and increases in electricity prices, we also took action. We have done this on a number of similar cases. Therefore, on this, I want us to take effective resolutions.”
Other Senators who contributed to the debate, called on banks to review their charges.
“It won’t be out of place to institute a committee that will call on the CBN to tell us what these charges are about. The Senate by fiat should abolish charges if they can’t be verified,” said Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah.
“For me, this is a major step that we are taking. This is because I introduced the first ATM machine that came into Nigeria over 25-years ago. Now, after 25-years, we should have grown out of these excessive charges and moved on. So, I believe that this is something that we must address to create an environment that protects all Nigerians, because these kind of charges in this economy affects everyone,” the Senate President, Dr. Saraki told his colleagues.
The Senate further directed its Committees on Banking, Insurance & other Financial Institutions and Finance to conduct an investigation into the propriety of ATM card maintenance charges in comparison with international best practices and report back to the Senate. It also directed the committees to invite the Governor of the CBN to appear before it to explain why the official charges as approved by the CBN are skewed in favour of the banking institutions as against the ordinary customers of the banks. It called on the Consumer Protection Council to look into the various complaints of excessive and unnecessary charges by Nigerian banks.
NAN
