In a bid to bolster the interest of drivers in the country, E-hailing drivers, under the aegis of the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON) have called for a Federal Government framework to regulate the business across Nigeria.
E-hailing drivers which includes drivers of Uber, Bolt, and Indrive, among others, disclosed that app companies have been the ones benefiting from the drivers’ hard work and remitting the profits back to their home countries.
The Lagos State chairman of AUATON, Azeez Jaiyesim, while addressing newsmen, stressed that the government’s regulations and involvement in the parties’ dealings would secure a more favourable deal for drivers.
According to him, “Only the government can help us out of these unfair deals with the app companies, which are mostly foreign-owned. The more disturbing thing is that after cheating us, they repatriate the funds back to their different countries.
“We have attempted to discuss with them severally, but they didn’t yield positive results, so what we need is for the government at the centre to step in with win-win regulations that will guide the activities of e-hailing drives and the app companies.”
In the same vein, the South-West Vice-President of AUATON, Kolawole Aina, during a recent interview, also enjoined the government to be involved in their dealings with the e-hailing app companies, noting that the union had long clamoured for a federal regulatory framework that would supersede state regulations.
Aina added that the e-hailing drivers are currently in 26 states across the nation, including the Federal Capital Territory, stating that no fewer than 15 of these states have regulatory frameworks at their discretion, and it has never favoured drivers of e-hailing rides.
His words, “So, we as a national union are looking at a national or a federal regulatory framework that will actually centre around all the stakeholders. All the stakeholders, including the government, the app company, the drivers, and even the passengers, will have their activities in relation to e-hailing rides regulated.
“It is only the drivers that think about how the states and the app companies are going to make money, and at the end of it, the drivers and riders bear all the burden.’’