Lagos: The umbrella union for e-hailing drivers, Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON), on Thursday decried double VAT deductions on the trip fares of one of its members, inDrive. The Vice-President of AUATON, South-West, Mr. Kolawole Aina, expressed concerns over this issue, highlighting its sudden emergence at the start of the year.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, inDrive e-hailing drivers discovered this double taxation on January 1, 2026. Aina explained that one of the VAT deductions appeared as a service payment VAT on their invoices, while the other was simply labeled as VAT. This new taxation policy increased the total commission and tax deductions on the inDrive drivers’ platform from the initial 9.99 percent to about 12.5 percent per ride.
Aina speculated that the taxes might have been imposed by either the Lagos State Government or the Federal Government in collaboration with the app company, as VAT is generally charged and collected by the government. He criticized the app companies and government for making decisions in meetings without communicating those decisions to the drivers who are directly affected by them.
He emphasized the need for meetings between app companies and government to include representatives from the drivers’ community. Aina described the double taxation as a burden, noting that drivers were already facing challenges with insufficient earnings and now had to contend with additional expenses.
Aina also pointed out that the tax did not seem to affect other categories of transport operators, such as flag-down taxis, park-based drivers, and other transporters. He mentioned that efforts to get an explanation from the inDrive app company had been unsuccessful, as the company was unresponsive to calls or messages, and their email policy only catered to individual inquiries, which conflicted with the association’s policies.
He highlighted that drivers were unable to pick the next ride if they did not pay the double tax on a trip. Aina urged the app company to communicate and clarify the new deduction regime to its drivers. He also appealed to the federal government to involve its members in policy decisions, specifically mentioning the CNG conversion for transporters.