LAMATA cautions commuters against paying fares into personal accounts

Yesterday, commuters were advised by LAMATA (the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority) to pay for transport services only with authorised bank accounts.

This was revealed in a statement by Kolawole Ojelabi, the agency's consultant for corporate communication.

He claimed that the agency was aware of a widely shared video in which a number of women said that an official had requested that money be transferred from a train ticket to a personal bank account.

This came after a network outage prevented them from using the Point of Sale (PoS) machines that were available to make payments.

According to Ojelabi, the Cowry Card is used to pay for all rides on regulated public transport in Lagos State.
According to him, to load a Cowry Card, commuters may either use a PoS machine, load money from their personal account to a wallet linked to the Card, or to a designated collecting account by the service provider, Touch and Pay Limited.

He emphasised that each train station has a unique account number. For instance, the Marina Station’s account would read ‘Cowry Marina’ to enable the provider to determine which station payment was made from.

“No transfer should be made to any personal account under any guise,” the consultant warned.
The claim in the viral video does not define or represent the services provided on the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) Blue Line system from Marina to Mile 2, according to Ojelabi, who also noted that the state government appreciates efforts to ensure probity in all official transactions.

He argued that anyone with information about a systemic violation should email info@lamata-ng.com or use WhatsApp, SMS, or phone +234-909-952-628.