Beyond providing e-taxi services, LagRide offers a drive-to-own option to drivers. Technext spoke with some drivers (captains) who started their journey with the drive-to-earn scheme. According to them, they were promised that they would be migrated to the drive-to-own scheme after six months.
However, one of the drivers who claimed to be in his sixth month of working, there is no indication that he will be migrated to that scheme yet.
He added that he hasn’t yet seen a driver who has made it to the scheme, as most are cut off the job in their fifth or sixth month. He said the company achieves this by setting impossibly high financial conditions.
The drivers argue that the financial requirements of the drive-to-own scheme are nearly impossible to attain, especially as they will only be operating on the Lagride app, which isn’t popular.
These conditions come in three plans. The first is the N1 million initial deposit plan under which pilots are required to make a daily remittance of N77,000 and are not allowed to take the vehicles home.
The second is the N5 million initial deposit plan on a three-year repayment plan. Finally, there is the N10 million initial payment plan under which the pilot could be allowed to take the vehicle home.
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Reacting to these, the Lagride spokesperson, Ifeanyi Abraham, described the claims as incorrect, as there is a “fully functional drive to own pathway.” He, however, stated that under the old drive-to-own system, a lot of cars were stolen as pilots came up with creative ways to circumvent the system.
Consequently, the company had to come up with a system to protect its assets, which led to the high initial deposit schemes.
“Captains can own vehicles with a 5 million naira initial payment and 24-month instalments or a 10 million naira initial payment and 18-month instalments. These structures are active and available,” he said.
He also pointed out that the company has partnered with several Nigerian banks to expand financing options and make ownership more accessible for captains who cannot raise the down payment immediately.
He noted that Lagride is setting a new benchmark for mobility across Africa, built on structure, accountability and opportunity, and remains committed to raising standards, improving livelihoods and supporting the mobility vision of Lagos.
“There has been pushback from those resistant to reform, but Lagride continues to make strong inroads by combining technology, transparency and training to uplift the entire ecosystem,” he finished.
Recall that Technext recently reported that drivers operating on Lagride complained about its daily N70,000 to N100,000 remittance requirement. According to one of the captains who spoke on the condition of anonymity (as they were still working for the company), the pressing situation has forced him to work a minimum of 17 hours a day while passing the night in his car.
Read here: LagRide drivers bemoan N100k daily remittance, low customer requests on app
“We remit 100,000 naira every day. If you give them less than 40,000 naira, they will seize the vehicle, and you must pay a 100,000 naira penalty before they will give it back. Personally, I have paid it once. So we struggle to make 80,000 to 100,000 naira every day. It is even hard to make N50,000 on their app in a day because of low patronage,” he explained.
The captains also accused the Chairman of LagRide, Chief Diana Chen, of insensitivity and profiteering. “She used to tell us: ‘Can your government give you a brand new car?”, one driver claimed.
Reacting to these claims, Mr Abraham said the remittance figures being circulated are inaccurate. He explained that since the company cover all major operational costs that drivers in a typical ride-hailing model bear alone, the captains’ earnings represent net income after all these costs have been deducted.
