My biggest regret as a Taxi Driver
When the first fuel scarcity of 2022 ended, I heard countless bolt/uber drivers at the airport wishing out loud that the scarcity had lasted forever. Their reason? They made more money during the scarcity period.
You see, whenever there’s a major scarcity in town, bolt drivers are usually worse hit — while other taxi drivers review the price upward to accommodate the fuel scarcity, bolt/uber drivers are stuck with charging the usual prices because the fares are set by Bolt and not the drivers.
This time, the Bolt/Uber drivers at the airport were having none of that. They decided that it made sense to increase the fares since the fuel scarcity had caused already slim profit margins to become even tighter. Drivers resorted to bargaining instead of going with the usual bolt price.
When the bargaining first started, the increase was fair. Drivers would usually charge an additional N1000 to N1500. So rides that were 3000 were now 4000 and so on. But soon enough, a lot of drivers began to take advantage of this bargaining arrangement to exploit passengers. Some were charging double and sometimes triple the normal fare!
While I empathized with drivers who were charging a little above the usual fares, I did not increase my charges. All I would do at the end of the ride is tell my rider the actual fare and tell them humorously that generous tips are appreciated, allowing them to use their discretion to decide if a tip was justified, and how much it should be.
I didn’t increase my fares for a couple of reasons. First, I tried to empathize with the passengers who might have had tight budgets and made plans around the default fares. Secondly, I had a system for getting petrol that worked for me so it cost me about 4 hours every two days on average to get petrol. I didn’t think that was enough to cause any significant change in my weekly income. Lastly, and least important for me, it was against Bolt’s terms and conditions to charge above what the app says you should collect.
Somehow-somehow, I managed to go through the first scarcity without charging anyone above the normal price. But then the second wave of scarcity hit us, only in Abuja and worse than the first.
I tried my best to work with default fares for a while, but after spending eight hours in a queue on a hot Saturday, I wondered if I was just being foolish. Sure, I had despised the fact that some drivers were using the scarcity to exploit, but I was in business and I needed to make a profit. I decided I was going to start charging a little extra, but in a way that I believed was fair to both parties.
When I got my next request at the airport, I explained to the guy as politely as I could that I would have to charge him 5000 Naira for his 4000 Naira ride. He resisted, but after explaining why to him, he seemed to have understood and agreed to go.
Long story short, I tried to go online a few days later and noticed that my Bolt account had been permanently blocked. Reason? Overcharging a rider. I knew bolt was very strict on overcharging, but hey! I had done countless rides during a scarcity without overcharging, and even the one I charged extra, I considered how fair it was to the rider, and made sure he was cool with it before starting the ride. But apparently, the guy had reported to Bolt.
The worst part about this is it happened when I has just decimated my savings to pay for repairs. Plus I had bills to pay. I needed to get my account back!
Usually, blocks like the one bolt had given me are permanent. Everyone I had spoken to told me to forfeit the account and focus on earning with Uber. But I loved using bolt at the airport, that would mean I would move to doing town trips which in my opinion were more stressful.
I was told my best bet to get my account back (even though there was a slim chance that I could get it back anyway) was to call bolt and deny being charging extra. This presented an ethical dilemma for me — I really needed my bolt account but did I need it enough to lie?
While I pondered on this, I shared my dilemma with a friend Dongvel and she said something profound:
“You see, I have conceded to the fact there are some things that I cannot get away with, even when everyone else is doing the same thing and getting away with it.” (paraphrase)
Her words echoed what I’d always felt. “Bad thing no fit me”. There were people who had been doing it for ages but never had their accounts flagged, but this was my first time and I was blocked!
Her words also helped me decide what to do: instead of lying like everyone did, I was going to call customer support and tell them the whole truth. If they decide to keep the permanent ban, fine.
It took me a long while to get my account back, but eventually, it was reactivated. After a lot of back and forth, bolt offered to reopen my account if I refunded the overcharge to the rider.
Interestingly, when I contacted the rider to get his account number he expressed regret, he told me not to bother — he had actually reported the overcharging to bolt because he felt that their current rates were unfair to drivers. Baba even refunded my refund.
Reflection
Considering the long process it took me to get my account back, I am very sure that I would have lost my account forever if I hadn’t made the decision (against popular opinion) to be honest.
This experience, though with its regrets, remains a lesson to remind me that despite what is happening to everybody else, my race is unique to me. My values are different and shouldn’t change in favour of what is popular.
There are ‘sins’ you are not allowed to commit. There are things that would work for others that wouldn’t work for you. But then there are opportunities that only you can have. Beauty that only you can see. Change that only you can make.
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