At a Zoom meeting with taxi drivers and operators last week, after the launch of the MyKab brand on September 1, promoters of the e-hailing taxi app, among others, told the public what makes the firm unique, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE
Tajudeen Adegbaju has invested about 30 years into commercial taxi service in Lagos, but he said he is thinking of quitting. The last five years have been most traumatic for business. Things are not helped with the advent of technology-driven e-hailing taxi operations.
No customer (commuter(s) dey look our way again, as these Uber, and Bolt drivers don almost run us out of business,” Adegbaju said in smattering Pidgin English. With diminishing returns, Adegbaju said taxi business was no longer lucrative.
He recalled that the business had once been the toast of the town. He had married his two wives and nurtured all his eight children with proceeds from the trade, but the business now seems incapable of shouldering his responsibility. Competition is changing the name of the game, as local taxi operators were caught napping.
Just like hordes of other local operators caught in the mire, Adegbaju said he stayed on because he was undecided what his next line of action would be.
But the dark nights might soon be over as a local app driven e-hailing operator MyKab unveils operations that would incorporate willing local taxi operators.
MyKab said it came into the scene to solve the myriad of problems riders face each time they hailed a cab.
Wagbemiga Mary-Peter Onifade, an official of MyCab said the company, registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), has a working relationship with the regulators.
She stated that the company, which provides e-hailing car hire service, has a tracking policy by which riders could track their locations and share same information with family and friends, wherever and whenever they boarded any taxi on its platform.
“The service was created to plug the disconnection between drivers, riders and the e-hailing company. We are building a company that is Nigerian, safety-focused, driver inclusive and that brings comfort and safety to the riders,” Onifade said.
She said the app firm is focused on five values: security, compliance, partnership, customer-service and value for money.
“The company is creating infrastructure to ensure that these drivers are being treated as they deserve, ‘partners’, thereby ending the mistreatment that has plagued the e-hailing sector overtime.
“MyKab has put in place several packages of benefits car insurance, Health Management Insurance and others, just to ensure that drivers are compensated and catered for.
“We understand and appreciate that drivers are stakeholders, without them the e-hailing sector is nothing, but a fleet of cars. Thus, their mental, physical, financial and overall wellbeing are paramount to the ride-hailing ecosystem,” she said.
MyKab, which hopes to be unveiled on the nation’s independence anniversary on October 1, would salvage the lot of drivers who had been at the mercy of the other app firms.
“With MyKab, every driver is an equal partner; an idea unrelated to what was obtainable with the other app companies,” MyKab’s Business Development Manager, Busola Agboola also said.
The zoom meeting held on September 8 and 9 presented a level-playing ground for the drivers and management. The drivers and the management interacted as partners and questions were asked with answers provided to the drivers’ satisfaction.
Lax regulation
The e-hailing business in Nigeria has ridden roughshod on drivers without any respite in sight. App firms care less about the plight of the drivers, who are usually at the receiving end. Attempt by the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation to regulate the sub-sector is yet to capture the pain and losses of the market by local operators to foreign incursions.
Onifade said most of the concerns raised by these local operators would be solved by MyKab, which is an indigenous tech-driven app, which is community-oriented, with policies designed to impact the lives of drivers and their families.
The vision of MyKab, according to her, is to give back dignity to the cab business operators and make it attractive to new entrants of the business.
MyKab’s modus operandi
MyKab is committed to a partnership with stakeholders, wherein they will liaise with drivers regularly and make most of the decisions together.
Strategically, MyKab offers drivers safety and security with an insurance policy on every active ride. This includes the riders as well. The goal of every business is to increase its clientele by the quality of service rendered. MyKab is available 24/7 to address whatever issue may arise in the line of duty, including but not limited to soft loan to cater for repairs and other sundry matters. By this, the drivers can offer excellent customer services to riders which in turn give riders value for money.
The ultimate goal of MyKab is to ensure that drivers on their app are professionals who deliver services, not only to the satisfaction but also to the admiration of riders. Services are based on integrity, knowing full well that the riders are kings and queens. It is only by offering exceptional services can there be loyal riders. These – Professionalism, Integrity and Exceptional Service – MyKab relates to be the golden goal of their business.
Every driver with MyKab is profiled for security of riders. Riders can be rest assured that they are in safe hands when e-hailing a cab. Each driver possesses a licence as required by the government. Each trip is insured for the safety of the rider and the driver. They can feel secure on every active trip, in full compliance with government regulations.
