In the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, The Directorate of Road Traffic Services has commenced the enforcement of the Public Transport Management Scheme, which includes regulations specific to ridehailing operations in the jurisdiction. This was made known by an email sent out by Bolt, a registered ridehailing platform in the city.
According to the email, ridehailing drivers will need a hybrid license which according to the email is an e-hailing version of the regular vehicle license obtainable in the city. In the email, there is also the need for a hackney permit, which allows “the holder to operate a taxi for hire legally”.
We probed further to learn more about the fees structure and we discovered that it costs N3,629 and N3,450 to obtain these fresh and renewal licenses respectively. This then brings to fore the recurring arguments for and against the status of ridehailing platforms; are they regular taxis with the corresponding responsibilities and are they subject to the laws and regulations guiding the industry they operate in?
We will keep monitoring the developments in the ridehailing ecosystem in Abuja.
