Clearing agents under the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has raised the alarm that the account statement issued for container deposit refund by Maersk Line doesn’t reflect the Bill of Laden number as the narrative, thereby making it difficult for freight forwarders to know which container deposits have been returned.
Disclosing this in a letter addressed to Maersk Line titled: ‘Complaint On Non-Reflection Of Bill Of Laden Number As Narrative On Refund On Account Statement’, a copy made available to the Nigerian Tribune, the clearing agents stressed that clarity on the narrative on the payments will enable its members and the entire freight forwarding practitioners to differentiate which refund is paid for which application.
Read Also: Tinubu has turned Nigeria to personal business — Atiku
According to the complaint letter which was signed by NAGAFF Deputy National President in charge of Seaports, Chief AfamChukwuma, “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 Laden 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 may be from the banks being utilised 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 beckoned on Maersk Line to address the issue speedily as future complaints from its members will see the matter escalated further.