E-hailing drivers seek FG intervention on centralised regulation

E-hailing drivers, under the aegis of the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON) have called for a federal government framework to regulate the business across the country that will take care of the interests of drivers.

These drivers under the umbrella of AUATON said the app companies have been the ones ‘enjoying the sweat’ of the drivers and repatriating the funds to their respective countries.

Involved in the e-hailing business are Uber, Bolt, Indrive, among others.

The drivers believed that the government’s regulations and involvement in the parties’ dealings would get a better deal for drivers.

Lagos State chairman of the association, Azeez Jaiyesimi, said: “Only the government can help us out of these unfair deals with the app companies, which are mostly foreign-owned. The more disturbing thing is that after cheating us, they repatriate the funds back to their different countries.”

Jaiyesimi noted that the drivers provide over 90 per cent of the needs for the joint business, but their partners, the app companies, determine the price drivers should pick passengers and also deduct a huge part of the revenue.

“We have attempted to discuss with them severally, but they didn’t yield positive results, so what we need is for the government at the centre to step in with win-win regulations that will guide the activities of e-hailing drives and the app companies.”

Also in his view, the South-West Vice-President of AUATON, Kolawole Aina, during an interview, also appealed for the government’s involvement in their dealings with the e-hailing app companies.

He said that the union had long aimed for a federal regulatory framework that would supersede state regulations.

The AUATON vice president noted that the e-hailing drivers are currently in 26 states across the nation, including the Federal Capital Territory. Adding that about 15 or 17 of these states have regulatory frameworks “at their own discretion, and it has never favoured drivers of e-hailing rides.

He said, “So, we as a national union are looking at a national or a federal regulatory framework that will actually centre around all the stakeholders. All the stakeholders, including the government, the app company, the drivers, and even the passengers, will have their activities in relation to e-hailing rides regulated.

“It is only the drivers that think about how the states and the app companies are going to make money, and at the end of it, the drivers and riders bear all the burden,’’ he said.

According to him, the national framework will help all stakeholders to benefit and reduce the multiple taxation imposed on drivers.

Aina explained that the demand for a national regulatory framework was the reason behind the conference hosted by AUATON in 2024.