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Bolt and Uber drivers currently boycotting the app companies for their refusal to increase trip fares to match the realities of fuel subsidy removal, have slammed the companies for trying to blackmail them into accepting unfavourable fares. This was in response to a remark made by Bolt Country Manager, Yahaya Mohammed concerning the demands of the drivers.
The Country Manager had, in a statement to Technext, contended that excessively high prices would discourage passengers from ordering rides and this will in turn affect drivers’ earnings. Bolt also sent a mail which appeared to try to rationalise why a 270% increase in fuel prices mustn’t necessitated a commensurate hike in fares to its drivers.
In that mail, Bolt said other items that play a big role in determining driver costs include car rental cost, vehicle maintenance/servicing cost, data/call cost, etc. As such, since the cost of these other determinants didn’t increase, it is unjustified that that drivers are demanding a 200% increase.
“An increase in fuel cost does not necessitate an equivalent increase in total fares as the fuel cost is only one part of driver costs. Fares need to strike a balance such that passengers remain willing and able to request rides and drivers are able to remain profitable on each trip. We have made adjustments to our pricing to ensure they maintain drivers’ daily earnings after taking total cost into account,” the company told its drivers.
Uber, in a response to our Media, had taken a similar stance. According to the company: “Uber takes into consideration the economic climate in rolling out any price reviews. We believe this fare increase will have a positive impact on driver earnings while maintaining an affordable service for riders. Where price options are made too high, there could be a risk of fewer or no requests from riders – meaning fewer or no earning opportunities for drivers.”
However, the drivers, under the aegis of the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transport Workers of Nigeria (AUATWON), insisted that Bolt and Uber are trying to blackmail them using the passengers as a decoy. The General Secretary of the union, Ibrahim Ayoade, told Technext that if Bolt and Uber are indeed so concerned about the passengers, they should have accepted to slash their commissions to 10% while also giving discounts to the passengers.
“They should stop blackmailing us with passengers. We demanded that app companies should subsidise trip fare for the rider by at least 5% to cushion the effect of increase in price. We also demanded that they slash their commission. Why are they not talking about those? They are selfish, they only think about their business and the money they are making. It never comes to their mind that app drivers are going through a difficult time.
Ibrahim Ayoade to Bolt and Uber
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Uber and Bolt drivers union are currently on strike
Responding to Bolt’s claim that drivers shouldn’t expect a commensurate increase in price because there are other items that play a big role in determining their costs, the General Secretary noted that the e-hailing companies also make money through other avenues and as such should be agreeable to the drivers demands.
“Let’s even talk about the price mechanism. Let’s talk about commission. Bolt takes 25% percent of every trip. Why are they not reducing it to 10% percent? Because the commission is not the only area they make money from app drivers. Apart from commission, Bolt and Uber also make money from the traffic and data on their website. They make money from vehicle inspection. Every driver goes for inspection twice yearly at the rate of N8,000. They make millions of dollars here,” he claimed.
