Commercial vehicle operators reject e-payment of fares by commuters in Bauchi
Commuters in Bauchi state have lamented difficulties experienced on payment of transport fares, as motorists now reject e-payment insisting on cash.
Some of the commuters on Tuesday expressed concern over the rejection of transportation fare through e-payment.
Mr Moses Adam, a commuter at Mobil filling station who planned to travel to Jos, lamented that commuters were suffering due to the scarcity of naira notes and rejection of e-payment.
“I have since come to the park, I want to go to Jos, and I don’t have cash, but I have money in my account. They are rejecting the transfer of cash and Point of Sale “POS” machines are not available.
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“The motorists insist on payment of transport fare with cash and cash is not available, and the POS machines don’t have cash.
“I kept begging them to accept the transfer until they see their alert before they conveyed me to Jos,” he said.
Another commuter, Mrs Hafiya Camble, said she was on the verge of missing her cousin sister’s sent forth party in Gombe, which was expected to take place in the afternoon due to the same problem.
“The commercial drivers don’t want to accept transfers, and I don’t have cash with me
“I don’t know what to do and I want to travel to Gombe, I am now looking for somebody that can help me because my sister in Gombe said she has N5,000 cash with her, so when we get there, the driver will collect his money,” Camble said.
A commercial driver at the Gombe Road Motor Park, Malam Sanusi Mato, explained that they don’t accept transfers because they sometimes don’t see the alert even after the customer has gone.
“We need cash to buy fuel and convey passengers to their destinations. Some filling stations don’t also accept transfers, and either they don’t have POS or the POS doesn’t have a network.
“So these are some of our challenges. That is why we insist on collecting cash, and sometimes the transfer is delayed till the next day. How will you fuel the vehicle?” he asked.
Alhaji Mohammed Abdullahi, the State Chairman, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), explained that they find it difficult to accept transfers of cash, because some of them don’t have bank accounts.
“That is why some of them insist on cash, not transfer. They also need cash for other services such as fuel and minor repairs.
Sometimes, the commuters collectively transferred all fares into the account of one of the commuters for fuelling of the vehicle.
“Another method is to pay half of the fare and then transfer the balance into the driver,’s account,” he said.
Abdullahi, however, urged the Federal Government to ease the hardship by making cash available for transactions.
