The Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) is demanding refunds for e-call up bookings, insisting that truck operators should not be made to bear the financial consequences of cancellations arising from delays or circumstances beyond their control. The association described the situation as unfair and called for mechanisms that would ensure automatic refunds whenever paid bookings are cancelled without fault on the part of the truck operator.
The association demanded an urgent review of the Electronic Call-Up (ETO) system following recurring cancellations of paid truck bookings, describing the current system as unfair and contrary to consumer protection laws.
AMATO said truckers incur avoidable losses whenever bookings expire due to operational delays beyond their control, forcing them to pay fresh booking fees.
AMATO’s Head of Research and Technical, Adeshina Ajibola, argued that the practice violates Sections 120 and 130 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018, which guarantee consumers timely service and appropriate redress where services are not delivered. “The recurring cancellation of paid ETO bookings due to operational delays beyond the trucker’s control deserves urgent review,” he said.
Ajibola urged Truck Transit Parks (TTP), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and other stakeholders to establish a transparent dispute resolution mechanism and provide refunds or transfer bookings where delays are caused by systemic failures.
In the same vein, AMATO Secretary, Sani Mohammed, called on TTP and the NPA to permanently link each Truck Delivery Order (TDO) to a designated truck immediately after matching to prevent duplication.
He alleged that the current arrangement allows some importers or agents to assign the same TDO to another truck, creating opportunities for abuse.
Mohammed further urged TTP to refund ETO wallet balances for bookings cancelled through no fault of truck owners.
“Where a service is not rendered, the trucker should not lose the booking fee,” he said, questioning why truckers bear the cost of operational inefficiencies while terminal operators and agents face no sanctions.
The ETO system was introduced as part of efforts to manage truck traffic and improve access to Nigeria’s seaports. This was designed to control the chaotic system in which large numbers of trucks converged around port access roads while waiting to enter terminals.
By assigning electronic appointments, the system was intended to make truck movements more predictable, improve traffic management and reduce the congestion that has been the bane of Lagos ports operations.
