Ride-hailing company, Bolt has put in place a mouthwatering bonus of N6,000 for drivers operating on its app. This is believed to be a ploy to bait and incentivise enough drivers into abandoning a strike action by the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transport Workers of Nigeria (AUATWON) which kicked off on Wednesday.
According to the offer on its driver app seen by Technext, the bonus will be for drivers who satisfy certain conditions. The conditions include completing between 9-11 trips, working at least 7 hours and accepting up to 90% of orders among others.
Along with the hefty bonus, the hailing company also increased its surge pricing to 5.0%. Surge pricing is a mechanism employed by ride-hailing companies to increase its fare, and by extension the drivers income, in times that it needs to.
Price surging can be used to address increased demand by raising prices to reflect that demand, or to incentivize drivers to get on the road and work, especially during weekends, public holidays, and in this case, union strikes.
“That is the bait to lure drivers to work. After the 5.0 surge this morning, Bolt goes back to their shenanigans and dictatorship. This is their usual way, whenever drivers intend to go on strike
Bolt driver
Another diver told me that a price surge of 5.0 is very high as the highest surge he has personally seen was 2.50 and that was before the whole fuel hike. He nonetheless admitted there’s a possibility for such a hike given the current circumstances, however, the distance would be very far, for example, from Ajah to Ikorodu.
Bolt and Uber drivers strike
Following President Bola Tinubu’s announcement that fuel subsidy is gone, fuel prices skyrocketed by over 300 per cent in many places across the country. Transporters are the worst-hit of this move as their business depends mostly on fuel.
But while independent transport workers like danfo drivers and okadas etc, have taken the liberty of increasing their prices to reflect the current realities, Uber and Bolt drivers are left waiting on their proprietary companies to do the same.
Unfortunately for them, when the companies announced their increase in fares, none offered anything more than a 30% increase. This forced the drivers union to mobilize its members to boycott the e-hailing apps starting on Wednesday unless their demands are met. This was despite the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) calling off its nationwide fuel subsidy removal strike.
Some of the drivers demands are:
- Increase fare by 200%
- Reduction of commission by 50%
- Stop unlawful deactivation of drivers.
- Open collective bargaining with AUATWON
Our services must be withdrawn during this protest and a moratorium or waiver should be given to all drivers on rentals or hire purchase. This is a solidarity step we must take together to protect our investments as fleet managers, secure our business as workers, and secure our jobs as app drivers.
AUATWON
It is, however, unlikely that the app companies would be willing to offer a 200% increase in fares as it would be very detrimental to their business. Before now, ride-sharing was considered something of a luxury by the majority of Nigerians.
The companies have tried to commonize it by offering lesser fares and introducing inferior quality rides for lower fares in a bid to popularize it as well as expand the income net. A 200% increase now would put the business firmly in the realm of luxury.
Nigerians already reeling from the hardship that have suddenly come upon them as a result of the fuel subsidy removal would be less willing to make things more difficult for themselves by paying 200% more for a service that has become a luxury.
This possible loss of business would also make the app companies reluctant to slash its commission to 10%. One could only hope that the union and the app companies are able to reach a middle ground that will be beneficial for all.