Drivers operating on the Lagos government-backed mobility platform Lagride (also known as ‘captains’) have complained about acts of injustice that they claim to have suffered from the app operators. One of these is the 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.
“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. Sometimes you can stay in particular places for like 3 hours without any request. Some of us sleep in our cars at their park in VI. We have to work from 5 am to 10 pm to meet up,” he told this reporter.
Asked about their monthly earnings after paying so much to LagRide, the drivers said the company assured them of monthly earnings of between N250,000 and N400,000.
However, he claimed that they struggled to make anything close, noting that the assurances were merely used to lure drivers into the scheme, adding that the company only allow them to keep 10 per cent of their total remittances.
“The salary of N400,000 per month is a lie. That is what they use to deceive us into taking the job. We paid 50,000 naira to get this job. And they promised to give us 250,000 to 400,000 every month. Since I joined, there has been no basic salary. We only get 10 per cent of what we make at the end of the month,” one driver said.
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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? Can your family give you a brand new car? I give you a brand new car, you give me 100,000 naira.’ She is always in China sending instructions. She could wake up today and say anybody who makes less than 60,000 should drop their key,” one driver claimed.
Reacting to these claims, Lagride, through its Director of Public Relations, Ifeanyi Abraham, said the remittance figures being circulated are inaccurate. Yet, he failed to provide the accurate figure.
While noting that the company is not a traditional ride-hailing service, he pointed out that the company absorbs major operational costs, including fueling combustion vehicles, electricity for EVs, all maintenance and repairs, insurance, and customer service infrastructure, as well as a relationship with security officials to protect drivers, etc.
Hence, 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.
He added that the structure is transparent and was clearly communicated during onboarding, noting that while captains benefit from consistent passenger demand, adding that earning discrepancies are largely owing to their personal conduct.
“Many earning discrepancies arise from conduct, not system design. Some captains cancel rides, reject trips based on destination, or perform unauthorised cash trips. These actions reduce their recorded rides and distort the perception of earnings. Captains who operate transparently within the system consistently meet or exceed their targets,” Abraham said.
Mr Abraham further described as incorrect the claims that vehicles are retrieved by LagRide simply because a captain remits less than N40,000 on a particular day.
He explained that retrieval only occurs when a captain violates their contractual agreements, such as operating the vehicle on another platform, performing offline trips, or violating safety and tracking protocols.
