Point of Sales (PoS) operators now have until September, 2024 to register their businesses as against the initial July 7 as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) at the weekend extended the deadline by another 60 days.
In May, 2024, the CAC announced that PoS agents of major fintechs in Nigeria including OPay, Palmpay, and Moniepoint, among others, have been given a deadline of July 7, 2024, to register their business.
The Registrar-General of the CAC, Hussaini Magaji, who announced this, said this was the agreement with the PoS operators after a meeting in Abuja.
According to him, the registrations are also in line with the legal requirements and the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He added that the action was equally backed by Section 863, Subsection 1 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, CAMA 2020 as well as the 2013 CBN guidelines on agent banking.
However, in a statement on Saturday, the CAC said the extension is to give sufficient time to operators particularly those in remote areas who might have encountered network challenges to register and continue with their businesses.
“Operators who fail or refuse to register at the end of the extended deadline run the risk of losing such businesses and prosecution for aiding and abetting criminal activities.”
Since the deadline was announced in May, some of the PoS operators have been complaining about difficulties in getting their registration done on the Commission’s portal.
This prompted the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to appeal to the Commission to simplify the process.
The Governor appealed to the Commission last week during a courtesy call on him by the Registrar-General of CAC, Mr Hussaini Magaji, at Alausa, Ikeja.
Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, suggested that the CAC could adopt a model similar to the state tax card, which provided a database for the government to manage infrastructure needs without burdening businesses.
While expressing the state government’s willingness to collaborate with the CAC to ensure seamless registration of businesses in the state, he emphasized the need for more sensitization to correct the perception that registering with the CAC was difficult.