Port Chaos Deepens as TTP Hikes SMS Charges to Truckers by 100%
In a move that has left many in the maritime industry fuming, Truck Transit Parks (TTP) technical partners to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and operators of the Electronic Call-Up System have slammed a 100 percent increase on SMS alert charges to truckers navigating the already stressful Nigerian port system.
The new charges, which took effect on May 1, raised the SMS alert fee from ₦4 to ₦8 per message, a hike TTP blames on increased telecom tariffs. But stakeholders aren’t buying it.
“This is a tone-deaf and exploitative move,” one trucker told Vanguard. “We’re being squeezed from all directions extortion at the ports, skyrocketing diesel prices, and now this?”
TTP’s notice to stakeholders paints a different picture. It claims the increase is necessary due to higher telecom rates, and insists that SMS alerts are “an important way to stay informed and in control of a trucker’s activities.” But industry players argue that doubling the fee under the guise of telecom inflation is unreasonable especially when most banks only increased SMS charges by 50 percent.
“I don’t understand the logic,” said Sani Mohammed, General Secretary of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO). “If banks moved from ₦4 to ₦6 a 50 percent rise why is TTP hiking its charges by 100 percent? This needs to be reconsidered.”
The timing couldn’t be worse. Nigerian truckers are already grappling with harsh port access policies, lingering gridlock, and a system many believe favors middlemen and gatekeepers. For many of them, these SMS alerts — simple text messages confirming truck movement or approvals are now a new symbol of exploitation disguised as convenience.
The hike also raises a broader question: Is port automation becoming just another revenue trap?
Port Chaos Deepens as TTP Hikes SMS Charges to Truckers by 100%costs to users, critics argue that the increase reflects a troubling pattern in Nigeria’s maritime industry one where technology, rather than reducing burdens, is often weaponized against those at the bottom of the chain.
“Truckers are being digitally extorted,” said a maritime analyst who asked to remain anonymous. “First, you make technology mandatory. Then you charge people to access it. Now you’re increasing those charges without clear regulation. Where does it end?”
For now, the truckers have little choice but to pay or risk missing key alerts that could delay port entry, affect business, and invite further penalties. But voices are growing louder, calling for greater oversight, price regulation, and transparency in a system that increasingly appears to prioritize profit over efficiency.
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Port Chaos Deepens as TTP Hikes SMS Charges to Truckers by 100%