US online cab firm employs 6,000 commercial drivers for Lagos operation

An online cab-hailing service with headquarters in New York, United States of America, inDriver, has employed 6,000 drivers in Lagos for its operation, the Chief Marketing Officer of inDriver, Egor Fedorov, has said. Federov said that apart from the safety of the people patronising the inDriver service, Lagos residents can now determine the cost of […]

An online cab-hailing service with headquarters in New York, United States of America, inDriver, has employed 6,000 drivers in Lagos for its operation, the Chief Marketing Officer of inDriver, Egor Fedorov, has said.

Federov said that apart from the safety of the people patronising the inDriver service, Lagos residents can now determine the cost of their trip to different destinations across the state.

Fedorov, who disclosed this in an interview with Eko Trust, said that Lagos State was the first city in Nigeria inDriver would launch its cab-hailing service, though it has been operating in Uganda, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania.

“In recent days, inDriver has been working in Lagos in test mode to collect first feed-back. This week showed that our prices became more attractive for passengers. Passengers using the app pay an average 20 per cent less than the cost of other services.

“For example, for a ride from Victoria Island to Elegushi Royal Beach, Lekki, users paid N1,100 only, and from Shoprite Circle Mall to Chevron Drive, Lekki, it was N400.

“Until now, taxi services in Nigeria did not leave any choice for local residents when it came to the cost of the trip. Users were only offered to agree to the price specified in the application or on the taxi counter.

“But inDriver is here to change this situation. We want customers and drivers to independently and directly determine the fare of each trip. Already, residents of Lagos, using inDriver, will be able to make sure that the cost of travel can be significantly lower than the usual prices,” he said.