In response to the Senate’s investigation on the FGN TSA initiative, the CBN-appointed payment technology gateway provider, SystemSpecs, has maintained that it, at all times, respected the terms of its contract.
The Senate had last week recommended that the 2013 contract between the CBN and SystemSpecs, in respect of the FGN TSA initiative, be totally disregarded, and it considers the contractual commercial terms out of tune with current realities.
A major recommendation of the Senate joint committee on Finance, Public Accounts and Banking, Insurance and other financial institutions reads: “Given that SystemSpecs provided solutions and services at the nick of time, and has allowed it to be used despite the freeze of its upfront deduction and transaction fees, the committee recommends that its efforts should be rewarded based on the CBN-approved rate-band of N500 and N700 per transaction.”
Findings show that the Senate-recommended fee represents what is to be paid to the Banks, CBN and SystemSpecs till October 2015.
However, the Senate’s position on fees to be paid from November 2015 till date remains unclear, as the platform, Remita, is still being used by the government.
SystemSpecs in its official statement on the recommendation said: “It is fulfilling to note that the Senate report did not accuse Remita of under-delivering on the substance of the contract and that our efforts are recognised as having played a significant role in the life of the nation when it mattered and that the disagreement has only been on the commercial terms of our contract.”
SystemSpecs also stated that the Senate Committee further recommended that its efforts should be rewarded – albeit on a scale which is quite debatable. The company noted that there was nowhere in the recommendations of the Senate where it was accused of breaching the contract.
Reacting, a public analyst, Chineye Umeh noted that “While the recommendation may seem laudable on the surface, it, however, portends much bigger challenges to the image of the country, as one where contracts can be terminated at the slightest whim without consideration of possible implications.
“The cases of the Lagos metro rail transit, Maevis vs FAAN, Bi-Courtney vs FAAN, Chams vs NIMC, and many that have cost the nation a lot come to mind.
“The Senate should have recommended a review of the contractual and commercial terms, rather than termination, as no default in service delivery has been established.”
A review of the banker’s charges suggests that the basis of the Senate’s recommendations may be flawed, going by the undue variance of applicable charges on the local and international scenes in respect of different collection schemes.
For instance, collection fees cutting across channels such as internet, local and international card systems are not uniform and range from 0.2% to 5% in some cases.
Meanwhile, one week after Senate’s recommendations, the executive arm of government has not officially responded.
DAILY POST learnt that the presidency, which often points to the gains of the TSA implementation, is studying the recommendation as well as making consultations ahead of its official position.
“I believe many, including myself, who are following the episode are waiting for the view of the executive. Much as that will go a long way in shaping what to expect, authorities must properly handle this issue to avoid a reversal of the gains of the TSA so far,” Umeh added.
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