Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos State Government, in its pursuit to increase its internally generated revenue (IGR), is turning its attention to ride-hailing companies like Uber, Bolt, and others in the state.
The latest information is that the state government, headed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is planning to earn about 10 percent of every fare charged by drivers for every ride.
Last month, there were reports that government was frustrating operations of Uber and other drivers after it restricted movements of motorcycles and tricycles on some roads and bridges across the state.
But in a report by Business Post, the state government denied clampdown on Uber drivers, stressing that officials of Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) were only carrying out their normal duties.
It was said that in order to resolve all issues, government is planning a new regulation that will see ride-hailing companies, with third party operators, paying an initial licence fee of N10 million or N25 Million if they have more than 1000 drivers.
It was also suggested that 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.
On the part of transport companies that own their own branded cars with employed drivers, they are mandated to pay N5 million and if they have more than 50 drivers, they would be required to pay N10 million.
The new regulation will also mandate drivers to own Lagos State Drivers’ Institute Driver Re-certification (LASDRI) cards as well as a drivers’ badge to operate which will be issued by the department of public transport and commuter services of the state ministry of transport.
The new 10 percent is expected to be paid by drivers of these services, as companies like Uber reportedly already have between 20 percent-30 percent cost per trip.
In an interview with the Guardian Newspaper, the president of National Union of Professional E-Hailing Driver-Partners (NUPeDP), Mr Ayoade Ibrahim, said that he was aware that the government had a meeting with 20 operators, where they were told about the amount to be paid for the license and renewal fees.
He said the drivers have also started negotiating with the government to amend the regulations, saying that they will not be the ones to carry all the burden.
“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.
“All of these laws and licence are not for us and that is what we are trying to let them know,” he said.
On the part of the state government, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Transport, Mrs Bolanle Ogunlana, said the state has not yet instructed any operator to pay license fees.
However, she confirmed that the Lagos state government and the operators were negotiating on the operational guidelines for ride-hailing and transportation in the state.
