Nigerians to pay more for JAMB, driver’s licence under new TSA tariff model

The service charge on all transactions to be paid into treasury
single account (TSA) of the federal government will be borne by
payers, under the newly-announced model.

This means the payment to enroll for the Joint Admissions and
Matriculation (JAMB) exams, to obtain a driver’s licence and other
government transactions has increased from November 1.

The new tariff regime was announced at a stakeholders’
sensitisation programme on TSA e-Collection charges which held in
Abuja recently.

According to a statement from the office of the accountant
general of the federation, organisers of the programme, the old
regime led government to incur a two-year debt burden that was to
be paid to technology service providers and deposit money
banks.

In the new payment structure however, government as recipient
will no longer bear the charges on all transactions to the service
providers.

“In line with the global best practices and amidst dwindling
revenues, the federal government has approved a new Treasury Single
Account tariff model which mandates that the service charge on
payment to its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) from
November 1, 2018 would be borne by the payer,” the statement quoted
Ahmed Idris, accountant general of the federation, as saying.

REMITA CONTROVERSY
Controversy has trailed the use of Remita, the payment software
used by the federal government to execute the TSA.

Our reporter found that some Nigerians, who have been paying for
government rendered services via Remita, have begun to complain
about extra charges, which are not reflected in the payment
receipt.

For example, if a Nigerian student pays N1,000 for a JAMB result
printout, Remita charges N1,165.38, but a receipt for N1,000 is
issued.

In response to an inquiry alleging irregularities in the use of
Remita to pay JAMB fees, the operators made reference to the new
TSA tariff regime where the service charge will be borne by
payers.

“Processing fees chargeable on collections processed on Remita
in favour of all Federal Government Ministries, Departments
Agencies and other institutions were borne by the Federal
Government,” the response read.

“As directed by the Office of the Accountant General of the
Federal (OAGF), payers are now to bear TSA e-Collections fee,
effective November 01, 2018. “In compliance with this directive,
processing fees are now applied to all payments in favor of Federal
Government Agencies on the platform.”

Following the new tariff system by the office of the accountant
general of the federation, Nigerians should brace up to pay for
more on every TSA-driven transaction carried out with and MDA in
the country.