Uber and Bolt drivers in Lagos demand N2,000 cancellation fee to curb riders’ excesses

Uber and Bolt drivers in Lagos have called on the taxi-hailing apps and regulators to implement a policy of N2,000 cancellation fee for riders. The drivers, during a conversation, said the cancellation fee with curb the excessive high-handedness by drivers. 

According to the drivers, a lot of riders are in the habit of ordering different rides from different apps only to cancel one or both upon arrival. They also accused some riders of sharp practices like carrying too much luggage or trying to fit more people than is allowed into a vehicle. 

In the instance that the driver refuses, they would have wasted their time and more importantly, their fuel. Thus, the N2,000 cancellation fee should be compensation enough for them as much as it ought to be deterrent enough for the riders.

“I’m canvassing for action to be taken by state regulators to enforce a cancellation fee across board on all apps. By the time riders are paying 2,000 naira for each order cancelled, they will reduce their negative behaviour. At least, 2,000 naira for fuel wasted is still a good compensation,” a driver said. 

Another driver, Ajibola, while supporting the introduction of cancellation fees, said no rider should reserve the right to waste the precious commodities of drivers without being penalized.

“A cancellation fee will curb or mitigate riders booking ride requests on different apps. Riders ought to avoid wasting the commodity of drivers offering the services. It will also curb the entitlement mentality of riders abusing the vehicles. Drivers can choose to cancel if the rider wants to carry too much or heavy luggage without adequate compensation. Ride requests can also be cancelled if there are too many riders to convey which the rider requesting didn’t indicate prior. These are the things a cancellation penalty process will curb or mitigate. So, the fee is simply a part of the process,” he said.

Cancellation fees may not be easy to implement

Cancellation fees are not new and certainly are intended to be as compensatory as they are punitive. For instance, a driver narrated how a rider had ordered two rides from two different apps, one of which he accepted. He got to the address only to see another driver park in front of him soon afterwards. 

It turns out they were waiting for the same rider as they both kept calling the rider who eventually stopped picking up their calls altogether.

“I felt pity for the other driver because he is an aged man. I later called the rider and asked her to call the man back to at least apologize, but she kept talking a lot of gibberish, I felt really bad at the utter disregard and contempt,” the driver said.

Perhaps, if cancellation fees were to be paid, these drivers would feel a lot better.

While the cancellation fee idea might seem plausible, there are, however, several pain points to consider. First is that app companies like Uber, Bolt and InDrive are very unlikely to acquiesce to such a demand. This is for the simple reason that the customer would always come first for them, especially in such a highly competitive market.

Another point is that determining if the cancellation was caused by the rider’s excesses or the driver’s unprofessionalism might be tedious for them. Moreover, there are reports that such a cancellation/compensation system had been abused in the early days of ride-hailing when drivers go about picking and cancelling rides just to get easy money. 

It is for these reasons that the drivers are calling for regulators like the Lagos State Ministry of Transport to midwife the process. First, they have the power to make the policy binding to all players. Also, due to their API integration with the app companies, they too will be able to track rides, see how much time a driver spent on pick-up, examine complaints and determine if compensation should be made or not.

“No app company can successfully implement it on its own. It will have to be a rule of industry set by both the regulators and the trade union. For instance, if a driver cancels voluntarily, he will not receive any cancellation fee certainly. That way, app companies are absolved of such intricacies since drivers can witch-hunt them if they set it on their own,” a driver said.

Ajibola, approaching the role of the regulators like the ministries from a more technical side, said the matter of deciding who is at fault will be a matter for the algorithms. Therefore, the regulators will be tasked with monitoring the algorithm built into the system through their API to ensure the cancellation process is fair at all times and whoever should be at the receiving end receives what they are entitled to.

“With the regulators playing this role, they become the big brother, instead of allowing the kid brothers (app companies) to dictate the happenings in the industry. This will usher in or herald a new wave of regulations and allow AUATON to play that key role of co-regulator of the industry as the big brother to the drivers,” he said.

See also: Bolt passengers in Calabar, Uyo endure sweaty rides as drivers switch off air conditioning