Uber, Bolt And Others, To Pay N10m License Fee, And 10% of Each Trip To Lagos Government As It Regulates Ride-Hailing Operators
Lagos government has mandated Uber, Taxify and other ride-hailing companies in Lagos state to pay a sum of N10 million naira initial license fee in accordance to the new transportation regulations by the state.
This is coming after the crackdown on drivers of ride-hailing companies by the state government in the last couple of weeks.
The crackdown which resulted in the impounding of vehicles belonging to several Uber drivers was reportedly because the drivers do not have hackney permits and Lagos State Drivers’ Institute (LASDRI) certification.
According to the new regulation which came into effect on March 1, ride-hailing companies with third party operators like Uber and Bolt are mandated to pay an initial licence fee of N10 million or N25 Million if they have more than 1000 drivers.
However, for subsequent years the ride-hailing companies will pay an annual renewal fee of N5 million or N10 million if they have over 1000 drivers.
For transport companies that own their own branded cars with employed drivers, the regulation mandates them to pay N5million. However, if their drivers exceed 50, they would be required to pay N10 million.
According to reports, this new regulation also provides that drivers on ride-hailing platforms like Uber and Bolt will be required to have LASDRI cards as well as a drivers badge to operate in the state.
The badge will be issued by the department of public transport and commuter services of the state ministry of transport.
Also, the cars onboarded on Uber, Bolt and other ride-hailing must now have hackney permits which cost as much as N15,000.
They would also be required to operate with tags issued by Lagos State Motor Vehicle Administration Agency.
Meanwhile, the state government will also earn 10% from the fare of each trip, which means the government is entitled to receive N500 from a trip worth N5000.
However, president of the National Union of Professional E-Hailing Driver-Partners (NUPeDP), Ayoade Ibrahim expressed confidence that the government’s 10% won’t be the drivers’ burden to bear.
The chairman expressed regret that car-hailing companies have failed to recognize the union and as such, can’t work hand in hand with them.
In his interview with Technext, Ayoade stated that;
App (taxi-hailing) companies believe they don’t need to recognize driver partners and the National Union of Professional e-hailing Driver partners An Affiliate of Trade Union Congress Of Nigeria. If they recognise the union by now we would have fought for them. They cannot lower driver partners incomes because app companies believe they don’t need us.
The chairman explained that drivers don’t have many of the documents required by the government, as such, they want a regulation that would be fair on them.
He added that;
We’re negotiating with government and we will prove to them why we cannot have those documents. This is gig economy and we are gig workers. What we need is fair regulations that is commiserate with our incomes. We have forwarded our ideas to government on what they are supposed to do
While reports claim the government discussed the licensing fee with about 20 operators, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Transport, Bolanle Ogunlana said the state has not yet instructed any operator to pay license fees.
She, however, confirmed that the government and operators were negotiating on the operational guidelines for ride-hailing and Transportation in the state.
Also, Bolt, has disclosed in a message to its drivers that they are in discussion with the Lagos state government saying;
Discussions with the Lagos State Ministry of Transport, are still ongoing and we would continue to work with relevant stakeholders to build a strong ride-hailing with your welfare at heart.
Due to recent developments on regulations, drivers on Uber and Bolt platforms have reportedly received messages concerning the new regulations.
A driver on Uber platform, Sunday Faleye said the company sent a message for him to update his profile with copies of his hackney permits and LASDRI licenses.
Uber has also reportedly listed “valid Hackney permit” as one of the criteria for enrolling new vehicles on its platform.
