EXPLAINER: Everything to know about Lagos Ride scheme — and how to apply

In 2021, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, signed a partnership agreement with CIG Motors Company Limited to revamp road transportation in the state.

The agreement heralded a new e-hailing taxi scheme known as ‘Lagos Ride’, which kicks off with a pilot fleet of 1,000 sport utility vehicles (SUVs).

The scheme is expected to compete with other e-hailing services — Uber and Bolt — and provide employment for thousands of drivers.

According to the state government, Lagos Ride would provide the driver/operator with the right to own the vehicle after payment is fully made within 3-4 years.

Here are key details about the scheme and how drivers can apply.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE VEHICLES

Two forms of GAC vehicles will be used for the scheme; a mini SUV and a saloon car with full options.

The vehicles come with a comprehensive insurance policy, a dashboard camera that provides audio and video feeds to the control command centre.

The vehicles also have a physical panic button that is connected to the control command centre while there is an SOS button on the driver and user’s apps.

According to the Lagos government, an Android phone will be given to the drivers while they will also be eligible for training and certification at the Lagos State Drivers Institute.

Meanwhile, ride-sharing is also said to be available for passengers, in order to reduce commuting costs.

HOW TO APPLY AS A DRIVER

The process of application is into two phases — prequalification and onboarding. 

1. Prequalification

Here, the applicant will be required to provide accurate information in the registration form on the sign-up page as well as a non-refundable fee of N17,000 to cover the following services:

• Verification of LASDRI ID
• Medical history check
• Security check
• NIN verification
• Driver’s license verification. 

2. Onboarding

Successful candidates from the prequalification stage will go on to complete the onboarding process, which comprises the following: 

• Structured training from LASDRI
• Soft skills training
• First Aid training
• Lagos Ride driver app training

After successful completion of this stage, a car and a mobile device will be assigned to the driver. The driver will be required to pay the sum of N1,845,500 as a down payment. This sum covers the following:

1. 20% equity of cost of vehicle
2. Registration and Insurance
3. Advance rent payment on Dashcam for a month
4. First – Aid kit
5. LASG E-Taxi license
6. Soft skill training

FARES & DEDUCTIONS

All trip fares are expected to be remitted electronically via the Lagos Ride platform. Where a rider is carrying physical cash, you will be required to credit the equivalent sum in value to the wallet of the driver.

VEHICLE OWNERSHIP & MAINTENANCE

The vehicles will remain the property of Ibile Holdings till the full payment is made. Title and ownership will only be completely transferred to the driver upon complete payment of all outstanding obligations.

The drivers are required to service debt using daily fares for the first two years. After this, they can pay down the debt and get out of the obligation. No outright payment shall be honoured in the first two years.

Maintenance and all insurance considerations shall be executed on behalf of the drivers.

Drivers will be required to comply with all maintenance service schedules or calls for maintenance — and non-compliance will attract a penalty.

All maintenance requests or complaints about the vehicle are expected to be lodged in the maintenance module in the driver’s mobile app.

Any cost or damage incurred from taking the vehicle to an unauthorised service centre, or without prior notice, shall be borne by the drivers.

N8,709 DAILY DEDUCTIONS AS REPAYMENT PLAN

A mandatory fee of N8,709 shall be deducted from the driver’s wallet daily to service the debt obligation. Drivers can fund their wallets from other sources, aside from fares, to service the daily debt obligation.

In the case of insufficient funds, the driver’s account will be debited and the value deducted once it is sufficiently funded.

EMPOWERMENT SCHEME?

According to the Lagos government, the initiative is an empowerment scheme for residents of the state.

While sharing updates on Monday, Jubril Gawat, senior special assistant on new media to the Lagos state governor, had described the scheme as an “empowerment programme for the citizens of the state who fall into any of these categories; the unemployed or workers under the present taxis scheme who are not owners of the taxis they are operating”.

Critics have however questioned the ’empowerment scheme’ tag, given the monetary expectations — down payment and daily deductions — from the beneficiaries.