The Lagos State Government has revised its recent guideline for e-hailing taxi services, a few days after it was initially published.
The adjustments came after the state government met with representatives of e-taxi hailing services and the enforcement date is the 27th of August.
The need to revisit the guideline stemmed primarily from negative feedback from Lagosians. Many people expressed their displeasure since its publication earlier this week.
Perhaps, the state government is paying attention to the voice of the masses. Some adjustments to the guideline cut across specific areas. They include a reduction in license fees and the introduction of a road fund.
Further changes were made on areas that addressed data-sharing and vehicle requirements.
Pre-adjustment
Recall that the service entity operators were initially required to pay a ₦25 Million license fee if they had more than 1000 e-taxi units. The price was dropped to ₦10 million for those with fewer taxi-units.
On the other hand, taxi operators were initially required to pay a reduced license fee — ₦ 10 Million for more than 51 units of e-taxi and ₦5 Million for fewer units.
Post- adjustment
Both entities will now pay 20% less than the first proposed fee. This implies service entity operators will now pay ₦20 million for over 1001 units of e-taxi and ₦8 million for fewer.
On the other hand, taxi app operators with more than 51 units of e-taxi will have to pay ₦8 million and ₦5 million for those with fewer taxis. Additionally, a flat fee of ₦20 will be charged for every transaction instead of a 5% service tax as initially required.
Drivers have been given a 90-day ultimatum (from 8th of August) to comply with all regulations. To avoid complications and uncertainty, LASG has dedicated a one-stop-shop for the documents.
This includes the Lagos State Resident Registration Agency (LASSRA) card.
Lagos State MetroTaxi (Source: TripAdvisor)
Another area of concern that was revisited was access to the database of ride-hailing companies
Clarifying its stance, the state’s Commissioner for Transportation, Frederic Oladeinde, said that they only require encrypted data from ride-hailing companies.
“The data they will supply to us is going to be encrypted. We don’t want detailed data, just on movement, from point-to-point. It’s going to be encrypted so that all the information is taken off.
“We are not asking for people’s details, where they came from or where they are going to. We just want point-to-point details,” Oladeinde added.
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The commissioner further clarified the use of cars that have a 3-year gap from the manufactured date. According to the commissioner, the guideline was instead referring to “corporate cabs.”
He further stated that the original document might have been tampered with, considering it was published as a word document and not a PDF.
“I think someone must have taken it from that document and then tried to paste it in our document. But it doesn’t apply to the e-hailing companies. There is no such thing in our regulations,” he said.
To learn more about the new guidelines, check here.
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