Federal Government reviews operations of courier, logistics services

The Nigerian Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami has approved the new guidelines for Courier and Logistics Operations 2020 to enhance the operations of Courier and Logistics services in the country which will turn revamp the Nigerian Postal Services, (NIPOST).

This is in line with Section 62 of NIPOST Act, Cap N127, LFN 2004 to replace the former Regulations which has been in existence since 2001.

In a statement signed by General Manager, Corporate Communications of NIPOST, Mr Franklin Alao stated that the Minister in the letter of approval stated that: “The new Regulations will no doubt enhance the regulatory powers of Nigerian Postal Services, NIPOST, in this subsector of the economy.

“The new Regulation, that is a great improvement on the old one, is aimed to rejig the logistic and courier ecosystem of the economy and significantly improve efficiency make courier and logistic operation more effective, in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration policy on ease of doing business”.

“Erstwhile regulations largely focused on the big players in the Courier industry with no clear cut role and guidelines for the SMEs, particularly the upstarts thereby creating laxity that caused proliferation of the industry”

“This was put into perspective as the new regulations that created six categories of licensing ranging from International operators, Regional State, Municipal or Intra-city, and giving consideration for special Small & Medium Enterprises (SME) Licence”.

The Minister noted that the categorization in the new Regulation is to enable the licensees to operate at their levels per time and scope, stating that the new regulations will assist SMEs to grow and create youth empowerment that will translate into employment opportunities for Nigerians.

He further pointed out that the new guideline has made it possible for every operator irrespective of their category to be identified with specific address and location that is traceable to before and after engaging their service.

“This will eliminate the risk posed by dubious operators who may take advantage of poor control to operate illegally,” he said.

According to the Minister, categorization creates room for migration as a licensee has rights to migrate from a particular licence category to another but noted that the licensee must do so in compliance with Section3(4) of these regulations as pertain to the desired licence category before the expiry date of the subsisting licence.

“To maintain diligence, trustworthiness, the Regulations maintain among other things, that an operator will be required to display in their offices, list of prohibited and restricted courier and logistic items to guide their customers,” he added.