Truckers protest frequent E-Call-Up cancellations, violate consumers’ law
By Idowu Addison
MEMBERS of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) have protested the recurring cancellation of paid Electronic Call-Up (ETO) bookings, describing the practice as unfair and a major source of operational disruptions and financial losses for truck operators.
The truckers argued that the repeated cancellation of already paid ETO bookings due to operational delays is unacceptable and violates the rights of consumers who have fulfilled their financial obligations under the electronic call-up system.
In a statement, the Head of Research and Technical at the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Mr. Adeshina Ajibola, called for a comprehensive review of the truck booking process for access into the nation’s ports.
Ajibola said:”The recurring cancellation of paid ETO bookings due to operational delays beyond the trucker’s control deserves urgent review.
“Under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018, Section 130, every consumer is entitled to timely and quality service. Where a service provider fails to deliver the service to the required standard, the consumer is entitled to appropriate redress, including a refund of a reasonable portion of the amount paid, having regard to the extent of the service failure.
“Similarly, Section 120 of the FCCPA protects consumers in respect of advance bookings and reservations.
“Where a truck has complied with the prescribed process but loses its TDO because of prolonged delays at loading points, pre-gates, or other operational bottlenecks outside the trucker’s control, compelling the trucker to forfeit the booking fee and pay afresh raises serious concerns of fairness and compliance with the FCCPA.
“It is therefore necessary for Truck Transit Parks, TTP and the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA and all stakeholders to urgently review this policy by providing a transparent dispute resolution process and appropriate refunds or booking transfers in deserving cases. This will strengthen confidence in the ETO system and ensure that truckers are not unfairly made to bear the cost of systemic operational failures.”
Also reacting to the development, the Secretary of AMATO, Mr. Sani Mohammed, called on TTP to collaborate with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to ensure that every TDO is permanently locked to a truck immediately after matching, in order to prevent duplication.
Mohammed explained that the current system allows some importers or their agents to assign the same TDO to another truck, which could subsequently gain access to the port through shunting.
He said, “I respectfully recommend that TTP adopt a policy of refunding ETO wallet balances for bookings that are cancelled or cannot be utilised through no fault of the trucker. Where a service is not rendered, the trucker should not lose the booking fee.
“Similarly, are terminal operators held accountable when operational delays cause tickets to expire? Are agents held accountable for duplicating TDOs? Why should an innocent trucker be unjustly victimised?”
