The fare adjustment aims to assist drivers in covering their growing operating expenses and is part of Uber’s ongoing commitment to supporting its driver community.

Tope Akinwumi, the Country Manager for Uber in Nigeria, stated that the company values its drivers and strives to make Uber the preferred app for them, while still providing an affordable service for riders.

Following a thorough assessment of the fuel subsidy removal, Uber made fare adjustments on June 3rd and 9th to reflect the current economic conditions.

These changes have contributed to improving drivers’ earning potential. Additionally, Uber reduced its service fee from 25% to 20% in February 2022, enabling drivers to have better opportunities to earn.

The company maintains regular communication with drivers through various channels such as roundtables, surveys, phone calls, and in-app interactions to understand their business realities and gather feedback.

Uber continuously monitors local dynamics to identify potential changes that can be implemented to benefit drivers and riders.

The service fee charged by Uber ensures the smooth functioning of the app and allows the company to invest in technology enhancements that cater to the needs of both drivers and riders.

Uber claims that its platform offers higher earning potential for drivers compared to other ride-hailing platforms in Nigeria.

The agreement was reached on Friday, August 14, after a three-hour meeting between the Lagos state government and e-hailing ride operators.

In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor Gboyega Akosile and titled ‘Lagos govt, e-hailing operators agree on new regulations’, the Lagos state government stated that the new regulations were not initiated by the government to extort the operators and drivers in the business but to regularise the ride-hailing operations in line with security measures.

The statement added “This implies that each e-hailing firm will now pay N8m per 1,000 cars fresh licencing and renewal, instead of N10m initially announced. We also discussed the issue of service tax, which was initially defined as a 10 per cent charge. We have come to a resolution that the levy will become a flat fee of N20 per trip. We no longer call it service tax; we now call it Road Improvement Fund, which will be levied per trip”

This comes barely weeks after the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration increased LAGBUS fares by 46 per cent

The new regulation for e-hailing taxing services is set to come into effect on August 20, 2020.

This is 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.

According to Part 4.1 subsection 5 of the document titled, ‘e-Hailing Taxi Operation’, 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.

The new policy also mandates all e-hailing taxi firms to pay N25m yearly to the state government per 1,001 vehicles for an operational licence while they will pay N10m yearly for renewal on every 1, 001 cars in their pool.

New firms would also pay a N10m provisional fee to the state government before starting operations.

This implies that the state government will collect taxes, licensing fees and then a percentage from every trip completed on these platforms.

“While operators kick against this provision, if it goes ahead to be implemented on August 20, the real losers will be the customers. Uber and Bolt will pass this 10 per cent cost along to end-users, making cab fares more expensive,” according to TechCabal.

The state government also makes it compulsory for all ride-hailing services to make their database accessible to the government.

The new policy comes barely months after motorcycle-hailing services like Gokada, MaxNG and O’Ride were forced to stop operations following a policy introduced by the Babajide-Sanwo-Olu administration which cost investors millions of dollars in investment.

The state government has been accused of high levies and double taxation which has often affected including start-ups.

Many unemployed Nigerian graduates have been forced to go into taxi-hailing businesses because of the high rate of unemployment and the high level of poverty which is expected to increase due to the economic crunch caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tasheena Campbell, 26, was taken into custody Aug. 20 — days after the incident in which she allegedly attacked driver Yasser Hadi in midtown Atlanta on Aug. 18.

A video uploaded to Twitter of the attacks begins with a woman — identified by WAGA as Campbell — sitting on the hood of a car, breaking off a windshield wiper. Bystanders and Hadi encourage her to stop, before the woman throws a punch at Hadi.

The woman hops off the car and enters the vehicle through the driver-side door while Hadi tries to stop her. “Get out my car!” he shouts, as he pulls the woman out to the ground. The woman tries punching the Uber driver — before biting him, prompting him to scream.

It’s unclear what sparked the altercation. Hadi said Campbell appeared out of nowhere and randomly attacked him.

“She’s acting weird, she’s acting wild, and she’s on the car hitting it, telling me I need to die, to kill me,” Hadi told WAGA of the encounter. “The pain, I said, “God, just let her take my flesh, I don’t care. I want her to go away from me.”

The Uber driver said the situation is “horrible.”

“She’s hit me in my job, my health and my financial pocket money, it’s hard,” said Hadi, noting he doesn’t have insurance. “I’m in a bad situation. I wish people see this and help.”

Campbell was arrested and charged with battery and criminal trespass, according to online records from the Fulton County Jail. She was still in custody as of Thursday.