The issues surrounding the new Lagos State Government’s guidelines for the regulations of e-hailing taxi services have now been put to rest, following a meeting between the State Government and representatives of the ride-hailing operators on Friday.
Briefing the media on the outcome of the meeting, Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladehinde, disclosed that the State Government and the operators had unanimously adopted the new regulations after all parties jointly reviewed and fine-tuned some of the contentious items in the framework.
He said the new regulations were not initiated by the Government to extort the operators and drivers in the business; he stressed that the Government was moved by the necessity to regularise the ride-hailing operations in line with security measures.
From the communique read out after the meeting, the enforcement of the new regulations will now take off from August 27, 2020 instead August 20 initially announced by the Government. By implication, the operators now have an additional seven-day extension to comply with the Government’s regulations.
“The regulations for the e-hailing companies will take effect from August 27, 2020. We have given an additional one-week extension for all operators to comply. Given that most of the drivers on the e-hailing platforms have third party insurance, the companies will have comprehensive insurance for each driver while the driver is working with them. The insurance will also cover passengers, which amounts to double insurance for the driver.
We also discussed the issue of service tax, which was initially defined as 10 per cent charge. We have come to resolution that the levy will become a flat fee of N20 per trip. We no longer call it service tax; we now call it Road Improvement Fund, which will be levied per trip. We also came to resolution that there will be reduction in operational licence by 20 per cent. Likewise, the renewal fee has been reduced by 20 per cent, going forward,” the commissioner said.
Oladehinde said the State Government had granted all drivers on the e-hailing platforms an extension of 90 days to perfect all documents and licences, required for operation, including driver’s licence and Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) cards.
We also agreed that there must a background check on drivers. One of the reasons why we came up with this communique together is to ensure that every resident using the e-hailing mobile application is safe. All forms of checks must be carried out to ensure the right people driving on the platform. This is paramount to the Government.
“We are not asking the e-hailing companies to release detailed data. All we are asking from them data for trip movement, so that we can calculate the right charge and levy due to the Government. This data is to be supplied every week,” he said.
Oladehinde said there was no burden of additional levy on passengers that will be using the e-hailing services, noting that residents’ interest has been protected by the Government.
Chief Executive Officer of BMP Car, Mr Ezekiel Ojo, who spoke on behalf of the e-hailing companies, confirmed all the operators were in agreement the outcome of the meeting.
