RANDOM: UBER BAN IN LONDON. SHOULD LAGOS ADOPT THE SAME APPROACH?
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.
I promise you, my heart is in the right place here. I have nothing personal against Uber as a company at all. If anything, it stays easing my life's journey. Haha, see what I did there?
However, when I heard of the recent development, I was in stitches. Until this day, I could not comprehend why. I will say this though, social media first brought the news to my attention so you can imagine the amount of memes and jokes I had to deal with, mostly from #UKTwitter. Londoners were not particularly pleased about it. But they are a strong and relentless people so they found all the ways to suck out the humour from a seemingly hopeless situation.
Anyway, fast forward to today as I did a bit of research in readiness for this article, all the reasons why I had found the ban somewhat hilarious came flooding in. Don't worry, you'll find out in a minute.
Let's start first with why it was banned in the first place. Apparently, Uber had been reckless- reckless in reporting cases of sexual assault by its drivers effectively,did not conduct thorough background searches on these drivers amongst a pile of other complaints. It's licence to operate (in London) expires on the 30th of this month, and well, Transport for London (the body in charge of overseeing transport in London), as things stand, ain't renewing it. There's an ongoing appeal in court, so let's keep our fingers crossed and see how that plays out.
Now, to why I found it so funny. I live in Lagos, by the way and let's just say that my experience (and that of very close friends of mine)has not been void of run-ins with Uber (or its drivers). And I know we are not alone. You've probably had an issue or two with your Uber driver as well. Or Taxify. Or some other taxi company or 'ridehailing company' as they are commonly referred. And honestly, enough is enough. These drivers have taken the mick so much, so many times and rather unapologetically too. So, I guess being in the know of its many atrocities, I could relate and understand why a ban was inevitable- and it honestly left me in real stitches. 😅
Just last week, Mo, short for Mohammed*,a very close of mine had booked one, gleefully pleased that he would no longer be subject to the spite of the scorching sun, only for the driver to cancel on him because he couldn't go the distance. That's fine. Honestly, it is. This happens often in other parts of the world, too. However,my blood began to boil hot when he told me that although the driver had bailed out on him, he had nevertheless been charged N400. LOL. I needed a moment to get it straight. You are charging me money. For a journey I did not even start. Or cancel myself. Wonders! Please, if anybody has any explanation for this, update me! Thanks!
It has also come to my attention that on some occasions, if your billing is linked to your card, sometimes, drivers dare to extend these journeys. So, you get off happily at your destination, unbeknowst to you, still being charged for a journey that ended 45 minutes ago. Best believe that I am retrieving my card details as soon as I can because you are just WICKED.
Other times, the problem could be as simple as the drivers just being blatantly hostile and rude. I am already probably nervous about that job interview, I really do not need any negative energy dwindling what's left of my spark.
From time to time, too, we hear about how this Uber vehicle or driver has been involved in this crime or that.
Comparing both cities, London realistically experienced very similar issues as my city. Assault- tick! Seemingly lax background checks- tick! But its government decided to do something about it, because there are standards and you either step up to those standards or you can get out. Simple as.
I'm not suggesting that every Uber driver is bad or that every ride has been horrible. If anything, some drivers have the most LIT playlist going. LOL. However,it would be such a huge disservice if we keep letting anomalies and behaviour like this slide.I am not in any way advocating for an outright Uber ban in Lagos- afterall, many Lagosians depend on its services so much. Moreover, an outright ban would mean thousands of drivers- husbands,fathers, providers would lose their daily source of income. What I strongly put forward is the need for a serious, serious reprimand/caution or a warning letter of some sort, in the very least. Just do something to make sure that these people understand that if Uber could get banned in one part of the world, best believe that we can come for you, too.
Okay, I am actually done ranting now. :)
Now, it's your turn! What do you think? Is it high time for Uber(and other taxi companies e,g, Taxify) to be called out by regulatory authorities? Also, please share your experience(s) with me- good or bad! :)
Thank you so much for stopping by! I appreciate your time so much. :)
With all my love & warmest thoughts,
~A.J.
*Although the stories shared are true, fictional names have been adopted to protect the identity and privacy of my friends.
Comments
Post a Comment