A lack of regulation in the mobility application service has contributed to the informality of the activity, which serves as a source of income and investment for hundreds of Angolan families.
According to a report in the weekly Expansão, while regulation remains in the 'drawer', the activity continues to grow and move millions of Kz, often outside the scope of the General Tax Administration (AGT), since the structure around it and the lack of regulation allow tax evasion.
The business operates in a kind of triangle with application management companies at the top, such as Yango, Heetch or Bolt, which only receive a commission for using the software, which ranges from 11% to 25% of the total cost of the ride. In between are either the companies that provide services to these apps, which own vehicles or manage fleets made up of several vehicles owned by different people, as is the case with Yango (which only works with companies), or individuals, as is the case with other operators. These also receive a small commission for the ride.
At the base are drivers, without any employment relationship with the companies, who commit to delivering a certain weekly amount to the companies and vehicle owners, in a business that ends up being informal as it does not involve the payment of taxes, according to the Expansion with several stakeholders in this business.
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In practice, app-based taxis operate formally at the top of the business and then become equivalent to the 'blue and white' in their relationship with workers in terms of precariousness and job security. This ends up making this activity semi-informal and without effective control over the financial flow of this service that emerged on the streets of Luanda in 2018 by the startup Kubinga.
The business has been growing rapidly, and on the streets of Luanda, light vehicles with the logos of ride-hailing companies are becoming increasingly common. And there are companies of all sizes. According to Adilson Edgar from 99 Frotas, his company controls more than 4 vehicles, 600 of which are in frequent operations. However, in this case, the relationship and negotiation of the amount to be delivered weekly is negotiated directly between the owner and the driver. 99 Frotas only manages the vehicle and the app's commission, which is around 3% per trip.
In other apps, and unlike Yango, there is a direct relationship with the drivers, but there is also no employment contract that sets a base salary and other benefits provided for by the General Labor Law, which, even so, according to lawyer Calisto Moura, a specialist in Labor Law, does not violate the legislation. Still, according to the specialist, “the service provision contract, in this case, is atypical, that is, our law does not give it a specific form. The parties have the right to establish the terms that are mutually advantageous to them, and this can be done verbally. Since he is not a worker, he does not have any social rights or other benefits that the law provides for”, Calisto Moura explained to Expansion
