The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has expressed oncerns over the container deposit refund process with by Maersk Line, calling for immediate corrective measures to be taken.
In a letter titled: “Complaint On Non-Reflection Of Bill Of Lading Number As Narrative On Refund Account Statement,” and signed by NAGAFF’s Deputy National President, Seaports, Chief Afam Chukwuma, the association highlighted a significant issue in the current refund system.
According to NAGAFF, the account statements provided by Maersk Line for container deposit refunds fail to include the Bill of Lading number as a reference narrative. This omission has reportedly made it challenging for freight forwarders to determine which specific container deposits have been refunded.
Part of the letter read: “We wish to bring to your notice the complaint we have received severally from members of NAGAFF, based on the fact that the refunds paid from MAERSK Line shipping company does not come with Bill of Lading number as the narrative, to be able to distinguish which of the refund was paid for and which was not.”
“Based on this, we hereby advice that MAERSK LINE should, as a matter of urgency, address this anomaly, as such is not being experienced from other shipping companies.”
While stating that the challenge maybe from the banks being utilized by the shipping company, the group advised Maersk Line to enforce the change as the payer by communicating the ideal payment instructions clearly to the commercial banks.
NAGAFF called on Maersk Line to address the issue speedily, warning that as future complaints from its members will see the matter escalated further.
