The Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) has mandated deposit money banks in the country to dishonour instructions from public and private sectors on salaries, pensions, suppliers and taxes not transmitted on a CBN approved straight-through electronic payment and collection platform.
This was contained in the revised 2019 regulation on electronic payments and collections for public and private sectors in Nigeria released by the apex bank yesterday.
The new guidelines stated that, “ Further to the implementation of the Guideline on end- to-end electronic payment of salaries, pensions, suppliers and taxes by all public and private sector organisations as directed in the CBN Guidelines referenced [CBN/BPS/PSV/GEN/014/05], DMBs are to dishonour payment instructions for all forms of salaries, pensions, suppliers and taxes not transmitted on a CBN approved straight-through electronic payment and collection platform issued by organisations with more than 20 employees.
“This means payment instructions and associated schedules are no longer to be transmitted to DMBs through unsecured channels, such as paper-based mandates, flash drives, compact discs (CDs), email attachments, etc. by qualifying public and private sector organisations.” The regulation is a revision of the Guidelines on Electronic Payment of Salaries, Pensions, Suppliers and Taxes in Nigeria (2014), and is intended to guide the end-to-end electronic payment of salaries, pensions and other remittances, suppliers and revenue collections in Nigeria.
The apex bank noted that the objective of the regulation is to fully align with the core objectives of the National Payments System Vision 2020 (PSV2020) to ensure the availability of safe, effective and efficient mechanisms for conveniently making and receiving all types of payments from any location and at any time, through multiple electronic channels.
This, it further noted, will reduce the time and costs of transactions, minimise leakages in revenue receipts and at the same time provide reliable audit trails, thereby ensuring that the Nigerian Payments System aligns with international best practices. In the area of infractions and penalties, the CBN stated that providing epayment system solution or services without obtaining a license from the CBN shall cause the CBN not to issue a license to operate as a Payment Solution Service Providers (PSSP) for a minimum of 1 year from the date infraction is detected as well as report the defaulting PSSP to the appropriate law enforcement agency It further stated that non-return of unapplied funds within stipulated timelines shall attract a penalty of N 1,000 for every transaction as well as N1,000 for every transaction delayed.
Non-provision of quarterly report on end-to-end e-payment of salaries, pensions, suppliers & taxes to the CBN or submission of false or inaccurate reports shall attract N5,000 penalty for each day for which report is not provided to the CBN and a penalty of N50, 000 and a warning letter to the Managing Director. There will also be suspension of license/approval after 3 consecutive repeated occurrences of either infraction (a) or (b) above until reports are made available to the CBN.
