The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has introduced a cashless policy for Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) registration process.
With the adoption of the new system, JAMB would be collecting the approved N700 registration fee on behalf of the various Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres along with its UTME registration fees.
The board made this known in it’s weekly bulletin obtained by DAILY GIST on Tuesday.
It noted that the money due to each registration centre would be remitted to relevant bank accounts on a weekly basis or any timeframe acceptable to the centre owners.
JAMB said its decision to go cashless in the UTME registration exercise would put an end to some of the fraudulent activities of some CBT centres, who charge candidates above stipulated fee.
It reads: “JAMB will as from the 2022 UTME exercise, be collecting the approved N700 registration fee on behalf of the various Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres along with its UTME registration fees.”
“The board will then remit whatever is due to each registration centre to its bank account on a weekly basis or any timeframe acceptable to the centre owners.
“This laudable step was borne out of a painstaking review of the entire UTME registration process which has revealed some unethical and unacceptable practices by many Computer-Based Testing (CBT) centres.
“It is to be noted that these centres are allowed to collect only seven hundred naira (N700) as registration charges but some fraudulent centre owners misused that opportunity to engage in conduct unbecoming of respectable establishments as they indulge in massive extortion of candidates, among others, during the exercise.
“Consequently, the Board has resolved to henceforth make the UTME registration process cashless to put a stop to such acts of extortion. This intervention will block all loopholes through which hapless candidates are extorted by unconscionable service providers.
“This process will not, in any way, increase the cost of UTME registration which remains as it was in the previous year. As such, it is only the process of payment that has changed, not the cost,” it added.
