On August 21, a Sunday, Akpesiri, a Bolt driver in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers state in southern Nigeria, woke as much as an e-mail notification inviting Bolt drivers to a gathering with state officers at a disused authorities bus park that very same day. Akpesiri didn’t attend the assembly that afternoon as he had different issues to do. However a number of Bolt drivers did and have been advised by individuals who recognized themselves as officers from the transport ministry that the federal government was imposing a brand new levy on all ride-hailing drivers in Port Harcourt and all through Rivers state.

Drivers would now should pay ₦12,000 to register their autos and ₦200 month-to-month, bringing the overall to ₦14,400, Akpesiri stated in an area radio interview.

The sudden information instantly raised crimson flags among the many Bolt drivers. Firstly, not all Bolt drivers obtained the e-mail. Those that did allege that the e-mail didn’t appear like emails they have been used to receiving from Bolt. One driver advised TechCabal that the e-mail got here from a .com area as an alternative of a .eu area. TechCabal couldn’t independently confirm this on the time of publication. 

Bolt drivers suspected foul play, noting that the assembly was scheduled for a Sunday and in a motor park as an alternative of an official authorities workplace on a working day. Drivers additionally famous that not solely was the e-mail not despatched to everybody, Uber, Bolt’s rival ride-hailing platform, didn’t ship an analogous e-mail to its drivers. Bolt drivers often additionally work with Uber.

Bolt says it’s conscious of the brand new levy launched by the Rivers state authorities. “Rivers state issued a communication to Bolt to flow into to drivers that utilise its platform to attend an orientation session concerning the brand new regulation for ride-hailing operators and drivers. Subsequent to this, Bolt circulated an e-mail to the motive force group detailing the contents of the communication shared by the Rivers State Authorities,” a spokesperson for Bolt advised TechCabal.

Drivers contend that they need to not have something to do with the Rivers state authorities, as they work with Bolt. Akpesiri famous in his radio interview that a number of months in the past, the Rivers state site visitors enforcement officers randomly impounded autos suspected of violating site visitors guidelines and charged exorbitant charges to the offenders in the event that they wished to be let go on the spot. Bolt drivers are frightened that dealing immediately with the federal government would imply having to cope with these officers.

On their half, an Uber spokesperson stated the corporate is, “conscious of the levies which might be to be applied by the Rivers State Authorities on drivers working on e-hailing platforms. We’re liaising with the state authorities to grasp the total scope of the affect on drivers working on our platform, which we can talk to them after we get additional readability from the Authorities.”

Port Harcourt will not be the one Nigerian metropolis to impose extra taxes on ride-hailing operators. In 2020, Lagos, Nigeria’s largest metro, launched new licensing guidelines requiring ride-hailing corporations with greater than 1000 vehicles to pay $64,600 plus a ten% surcharge on the price of each journey. The charges have been later diminished to $51,680‬ and  ₦20 on each journey.