E-hailing drivers under the umbrella of Amalgamated Union of App-based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON) have asked their employers to register them with Health Maintenance Organisations as part of their welfare package.
The South-West Vice-President of AUATON, Mr Kolawole Aina, made this appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos recently.
AUATON, which is an umbrella body for e-hailing drivers in Nigeria, has Bolt, Uber and other e-hailing drivers as its members.
NAN reports that an Health Management Organisation (HMO) is a health insurance plan that provides medical care to a group of people through a network of healthcare providers.
HMOs are known for their cost-effectiveness and focus on prevention and coordination of care.
Aina explained that enrolling for HMO should be automatic for drivers the moment they signed up with the app-based company.
According to him, the app-based companies should make it automatic for the drivers and their families to enrol for the HMO.
He said that the present arrangement for Bolt drivers, for instance, required the driver to make 200 trips in a month before being eligible for the HMO.
According to him, for somebody to do 200 trips in a month is illegal.
“We know that the car and the driver, both of them, will be half dead, if a driver should embark on such.
“With all this traffic and the road conditions, we want an HMO arrangement that will be condition-free.
“Once I log into the app and I pick the ride, I should be enrolled for HMO and it should be automatic,’’ he said.
Aina also appealed for comprehensive insurance coverage for the cars used on the road.
He said that AUATON was considering having a comprehensive insurance for all its vehicles and wanted to partner with some insurance companies for it.
The vice-president said that the comprehensive insurance would be for both the drivers and some of their family members, including the cars used.
He also called for the security of drivers, emphasising the need for profiling of riders the same way drivers are profiled.
He said that since 2014 there had been several cases of kidnapped drivers, adding that it was, however, very rare for riders to be kidnapped.
“There is nothing wrong if the app companies can help profile riders just as we have suggested,’’ Aina said.
