Lagos e-hailing drivers begin indefinite strike as fare, commission dispute deepens
App-based transport drivers in Lagos began an indefinite strike on Monday, escalating a dispute over fares, platform commissions, deductions and working conditions that could affect ride availability across Nigeria’s busiest city.
The industrial action was called by the Lagos State Council of the Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria, AUATON, an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
The union said the action would continue until further notice or until sufficient progress was made in resolving drivers’ grievances. Its notice identified earnings, welfare, safety, security and the sustainability of app-based transport work among the issues driving the dispute.
The strike puts fresh pressure on the relationship between drivers and ride-hailing platforms at a time when operators say rising costs and platform policies are squeezing what they take home from each trip.
Drivers target fares, commissions and deductions
AUATON said repeated attempts by drivers and other stakeholders to draw attention to their concerns had failed to resolve key issues.
The union has previously demanded changes to fare structures and platform commissions, including an earlier proposal for a 10 per cent commission ceiling, alongside greater transparency over deductions and improved welfare and safety protections.
For drivers, the dispute is not simply over what passengers pay.
Fuel, vehicle maintenance, platform deductions and payments by drivers who do not own the cars they operate all cut into gross earnings.
Earlier reporting on the dispute showed the union arguing that those costs can leave drivers with only a fraction of the money generated during a full day on the road.
That pressure also shaped one of AUATON’s requests as the strike began.
The union appealed to fleet owners and managers to suspend daily remittance obligations and operational targets for participating drivers, arguing that drivers who stay offline will not generate their normal income and should not be penalised for joining the action.
Compliance push across Lagos
AUATON said its task force would monitor compliance across Lagos local government areas and warned that members who violate the union’s directive could face internal disciplinary measures.
But the union also said it was seeking negotiation rather than disruption for its own sake and called for engagement among drivers, fleet owners, managers and other stakeholders.
The scale of compliance — and therefore the actual effect on passengers — was not independently established early Monday.
That distinction matters: a strike declaration does not by itself establish that all drivers have stopped operating or that app-based transport services across Lagos have shut down.
Bolt seeks talks
Bolt has responded by calling for dialogue with the union.
The company said it recognised concerns around driver earnings, operating costs, platform charges, transparency and welfare, and proposed a roundtable discussion with AUATON and driver representatives.
A verified response from inDrive to the latest strike action was not established in the material reviewed by IDNN.
The disagreement now turns on whether platforms and drivers can reach terms that keep fares commercially workable for passengers while leaving drivers with sustainable earnings after commissions and operating costs.
For Lagos commuters, the immediate question is practical: how widely drivers comply with the strike and whether that reduces the supply — or raises the cost — of app-based rides during the working week.
For the companies and the union, the larger question will outlast Monday’s disruption: who absorbs the rising cost of keeping Lagos’ app-based transport economy moving — the passenger, the driver or the platform?