Ride-hailing operators in Lagos state will from August 27, start paying a levy of N20 known as road improvement fund on each trip their drivers make in a day. 

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.

Lagos state Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladehinde further revealed that Governor Sanwo-Olu offered a duty incentive to the operators, reducing their statutory operational licencing fee and renewal fee by 20 per cent.

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 10 per cent charge. We have come to 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."

It was also learnt that the state government had granted all drivers on the e-hailing platforms an extension of 90 days to perfect all documents and licences required for operation, including driver’s licence and Lagos State Residents Registration Agency cards.