E-hailing drivers operating on the inDrive platform were thrown into confusion after the different accounts of the company’s support team failed to agree on the car age limit and which car models are currently accepted on the platform.
Trouble began after a driver who acquired a 2009 Toyota Corolla applied to change the car registered to his inDrive account to the new vehicle. But after several attempts to submit a change of vehicle application on the app, he had to contact the support team.
According to an exchange seen by Technext, the driver got the following response after tendering his inquiry: “As per your concern, your vehicle does not meet our service rules because of its production year. It should be 2011 or above.”
When the bemused driver asked, “Since when?” the company representative simply replied: From a while ago.
The driver said he simply went on to change the year of the car from 2009 to 2011 on the registration platform, after which the platform accepted his registration. This prompted a question as to whether the whole age limit is merely a smokescreen with no real implementation, seeing as all it took was to falsify the year on the car.
Read also: Public Complaints Commission to investigate Uber, Bolt, inDrive following driver petition
Amid the confusion, other drivers decided to seek clarification from the inDrive representatives via the company’s support system. A representative, who gave their name as Rustam, debunked the 2011 claim, insisting the limit is actually 2008.
The rep also suggested that drivers won’t be required to upgrade their vehicles immediately.
But that didn’t clear the air, as yet another rep named Amir, responding to the same request, said the car age limit is 2001 and above. “Any brand of car as long as it has four doors and is a 2001 model, we will accept it for sure,” the support personnel said.
When asked for how long this will be the case, the handler replied: Once we update it, we will announce it, but for now, 2001.
Technext reached out to the inDrive communications team in Nigeria for clarifications on this and other related matters and will update readers with their responses.
Panicked drivers react to inDrive’s confusing responses
This development is coming at a time when the Federal Airport Authority (FAAN) just announced that taxis operating at the airport must not be older than 2020, marking a shift to newer. This development threw operators into a frenzy due to the cost of acquiring new vehicles and how long such an investment would take to recover.
And that frenzy appears to have overflowed into the e-hailing space, especially with the kerfuffle on inDrive.
“So a 2009 car is not a car anymore?” one driver wondered.
Others began lamenting the entry of “big men” into the modern transportation system, especially in Lagos, with many of them jumping into the vehicle financing business.
“They have started with the airport drivers. They are equally trying to push this same policy to the e-hailing industry. Please, anyone buying cars now should upgrade rather than looking for a Corolla 2004 to buy. The government no send anybody papa oh,” one driver noted.
“They have imported over 5k Electric vehicles and some 2015 white Corollas, and they want e-hailing drivers to pick them up by fire by force. Hence, they are using the government to close their deals. The way capitalists work or operate is different from a normal business person. They will nullify your own and give you theirs at a very high cost, and if you complain, they will say they are only trying to provide alternatives for us and making the transport business more luxurious,” another driver said.
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