Lagos State Government has announced plans to commence the regulations of ride-hailing startups operating in the state.
Under the new regulations, ride-hailing operators like Uber and Bolt that have over 1000 drivers henceforth will pay ₦25 million licensing fee and ₦10 million annual renewal fee.
Those that have less than 1000 drivers, they will pay a licensing fee of ₦10 million and an annual renewal fee of ₦5 million. Operators who directly own their cars and employ their drivers will pay only the license fee of ₦5 million if such operators have below 50 drivers.
Those who have over 50 drivers will pay ₦10 million for the operating license.
Additionally, ride-hailing operators are also expected to pay 10 percent “service tax” on “each transaction paid by the passengers” and are mandated to renew their licenses three months before the expiration of the current license.
These regulations are contained in the Guidelines For Online Hailing Business Operation of Taxi in Lagos State 2020.
Besides the licensing and the renewal fee, the Ministry also stated in the online ride-hailing business guideline that they want “Access to e-Hailing Taxi Companies’ database (e.g drivers details, accident reports, etc).
The Ministry and her Agencies shall have access to the database of the operators/companies operating e-Hailing Taxi Business in Lagos State.
Bolanle Ogunlola spokesperson for Lagos State Ministry of Transport confirmed that the new regulations will start on August 20.
She said the enforcement of the guidelines will not start until after a stakeholder meeting is held.
According to a document titled, ‘Guidelines for Online Hailing Business Operation of Taxi in Lagos State 2020’ issued by the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation,: Part 4.1 subsection 5 of the document titled, ‘e-Hailing Taxi Operation’, stated that all drivers must pay 10 per cent generated on every trip to the Lagos State Government.
“All operators of e-hailing taxi service must pay the state government 10 per cent service tax on each transaction paid by passengers to the operators,” the document partly read.