Oluyinka Onigbinde
An operator of the National Vehicle Registry (VREG) has stated that insinuations that the VREG platform is exploitative, are far from the truth, even as he stated that the application is not just about vehicle importation, but also entails collating of other information such as criminal records, accident records among others.
Recall that some clearing agents operating at Lagos seaports had lamented the introduction of the VREG policy, describing it as another means of extorting importers.
Particularly, the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) had stated that the VREG policy of the Federal Government is causing untold hardship on importers of vehicles and their clearing agents.
The Vice President of the association, Dr. Kayode Fatinto had during a press briefing last week, lamented that licensed customs agents operating at the Tin Can Island Port and the Ports and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML Terminal) have been unable to generate the VREG in the last three weeks due to server failures.
He had called on the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed to look into the issues affecting VREG in order to simplify it and make the process seamless. He added that a lot of people are paying unnecessary demurrage and storage charges since the introduction of VREG.
However, in a chat with our correspondent, the Project Manager of the VREG platform; Mr Nnamdi Nwadigba stated that it is not exploitative, he explained that the challenges faced by clearing agents at the Tin Can and PTML axis is due to the internet connectivity at the particular time agents are trying to access the internet.
He stated that a series of network infrastructure tests have been carried out in the area and it was discovered that due to the large concentration of people in the area who are trying to access the internet services at the same time, it may be a little bit difficult to easily access the platform. He however noted that the VREG application is independent of location.
According to him, “VREG is currently capturing all the information of all the vehicles we are importing in real-time; for the first time in the history of this country, we are now moving to integrate this information with the existing vehicles in the country, so we are partnering with road safety, the respective motor vehicle licensing agency of all the states and the National Insurance Commission, Office of the National Security Adviser, the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN), to ensure that all of this stakeholders within the vehicle sphere of this country are interconnected.
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“There is also an implication for consumers like you and I having access to the National Vehicle Registry; meaning we can now see the information of vehicles in real-time. This includes criminal records, accident records, insurance history, ownership history among others, so this is a much bigger pie than just vehicle importation.
“Now on the issue of whether or not it’s functional in some areas, first we need to understand that this is an application and VREG is not tied to Tin Can, PTML and all of that, but the problem with Tin Can is around the internet connectivity congestion that they have at Tin Can.
“At Tin Can we have run a series of network infrastructure tests and we understand that congestion regarding connectivity in the Tin can axis is due to the number of people concentrated in that area and trying to access the internet services at the same time, but I assure you that the application is not location- tied
“Also for the issue of routine downtime, what I will attribute to this could also be due to your internet connectivity at the time you’re trying to access, but the application is independent of location”, he reiterated.
When asked if the use of the application is free, he informed that: “The Federal Government has mandated an operational charge for running of the Vehicle Registry there is a fee for operating this registry and keeping the information and it ranges between N2000 and N8000 so it’s about an average of N4000” he said.
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