JAMB suspends eTranzact from selling 2023 UTME e-pins over ‘extortion’

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the immediate suspension of eTranzact from vending the 2023 UTME e-pins.

The board broke the news in the latest edition of its weekly bulletin released on Monday.

ETranzact is a multi-channel electronic transaction switching and payment processing platform.

The platform has been one of JAMB’s major vendors over the years.

But in the release, JAMB said the suspension of the platform followed the alleged “extortion of candidates” registering for the 2023 UTME.

“Evidence available to the board showed that some of the agents of eTranzact such as Embassy Cafe have been vending the 2023 UTME pins above the prescribed fee,” it reads.

“This suspension is sequel to the flouting of the board’s ground rule that no vendor is allowed to sell above the prescribed fee. It should be recalled that the board had made it abundantly clear that to be listed as a vending outlet, a vendor would not be allowed to sell a dime above the approved fee.

“Furthermore, to ensure that all vendors play by the rules, the board had approved a handsome commission for them per each e-pin vended.

“The board also made it explicitly clear that the vendors would be held responsible for the actions or inactions of their agents especially as they concern about the vending fee of its e-pins.

“In view of the incidence of extortion perpetrated by some of its agents, eTranzact is hereby suspended from
engaging in the vending of the Board’s e-pins as well as other transactions associated with the Board’s processes.”

JAMB also called on candidates who have been exploited to forward their complaints to the board for action.

“In the same vein, the board urged candidates, who had been made to pay above the approved fee by any vendor or exploited in other ways other than inflating the cost of the ePIN to register their complaint by contacting JAMB on [email protected] and providing their ePIN,” it added.

“The board has put in a robust mechanism for continuous monitoring of the conduct of all vending outlets with a view to ensuring that Nigerians, who desire to obtain the

“Board’s ePINs are not exploited. All vendors are, therefore, urged to monitor the activities of their agents as the board would not abdicate its responsibility of protecting the interests of Nigerians in getting value and services for their money.”