POS operators in Ondo State have increased their commission on money being withdrawn by customers over an alleged scarcity of old and new naira notes.

At Alagbaka axis in Akure, the state capital, POS operators are currently charging 2,000 as commission on N10,000 withdrawals made by their customers, Starnews Nigeria can report.

A visit by our Correspondent to the south and north gates of the Federal University of Technology in Akure, has similarly revealed that customers are being charged N500 commission on every N5,000 withdrawal and N1,000 commission on every N10, 000 withdrawal.

The situation is the same in Owo, Okitipupa, Igbokoda, and Ondo towns respectively according to a survey conducted by our correspondents.

A POS operator who refused to give his full name but identified himself as Adeniran along Road Block in Akure, told our correspondent when he was confronted about the exorbitant charges on customers that the banks are not helping the situation by hoarding cash. According to him, banks did not make cash available to them whether old or new naira notes.

He said, “we are not the problem, the banks are the problem because they did not make enough cash available for us. At times, we had to offer bribes before they could give us money. As I speak, some of my colleagues have closed down their shops because they have no access to cash to operate.

“Both the new and old naira notes are very scarce. I got this cash from a trader and she did not give it to me for free. She also took money from me before she gave the cash to me. So, it is not our fault”, he added.

Mrs Adedeji, another POS operator who spoke with our correspondent in Ondo town said, “ I didn’t open my shop for one week now because there was no cash. I opened today because a friend of mine introduced me to an Igbo trader who agreed to be giving me money based on commission,” she said.

Asked why she didn’t go to the bank to apply for cash withdrawal, she said, “throughout last week I visited the bank for cash but I didn’t get anything. The bank is even worst. You will queue and queue but in the end, they won’t give you anything. And when they give you money, it won’t be enough to work. And if you want to get something reasonable, you will have to bribe some staff in the cash unit to assist u.”

Meanwhile, Starnews Nigeria reports that customers flooded ATMs across the metropolis of Akure City on Wednesday in search of cash. Crowds of customers were seen at the ATM terminals of various commercial banks, especially in the Alagbaka area of the state capital.