inDrive has confirmed that it is reviewing its Terms of Use for both drivers and passengers in Nigeria, following a Technext analysis which found that the e-hailing company excludes itself from any form of liability to drivers and riders.

The review carries weight because these terms act as the governing contract for every trip arranged on the app: whatever they say about liability determines who absorbs the cost when a ride ends in injury, lost property, or a legal dispute.

The company disclosed the review in a statement sent to Technext, in which it said that while it appreciates public engagement with its policies, the analysis was based on an outdated version of its Terms of Use (ToU). According to the statement, that document is currently under review and will officially cease to be valid on October 30, 2026.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to greater transparency, fairness, and a more balanced legal framework, we have introduced revised Terms of Use across several African countries including Nigeria, as well as in other key markets worldwide. Our users were formally notified of these updates on October 15, 2026, initiating a 15-day notice period ahead of the implementation date on October 30, 2026,” the company said.

Technext notes that the version of the Terms of Use it examined was updated on July 23, 2026, a little over two months before the article was produced, and that it was the only version available when the analysis began. The company has also confirmed that the document is still valid and will cease to be valid on October 30.

The liability language has already prompted organised pushback from drivers. AUATON has demanded accountability from inDrive over the clause, warning that the company risks a mass driver exit if it does not act.

Related coverage: Liability clause: AUATON demands accountability from inDrive or risk mass driver exit

What the analysis found

Technext examined inDrive’s Terms of Use and discovered that, regardless of whatever happens before, during, or after a trip, the company will not be liable or accountable to either its drivers or its passengers. The terms, drafted by the company’s legal team, have already been consented to by the thousands of drivers and riders who use the platform.

A section of the Terms states: “To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event shall inDrive be liable to you or anyone for any direct, indirect, punitive, economic, future special, exemplary, incidental, consequential, or other damages or losses of any type or kind (including but not limited to personal injury, emotional distress and loss of data, goods, revenue, profits, use or other economic advantage).”

The indemnity section reads: “You agree to defend, indemnify and hold inDrive and its affiliates, subsidiaries and their officers, directors, employees and agents harmless from any and all claims, demands, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or in connection with: (a) your use of the Platform or the Services; (b) your breach or violation of any of these Terms, any applicable law or regulation, or the rights of any third party (collectively, “Losses”).”

Speaking about the liability clause, business lawyer Tobi Adebowale explained that, in simple terms, the company has said that it only provides a middleman service and that the driver bears all the risk for using its platform.

“If a rider sues inDrive and the driver, the driver bears the cost of the court case and has to pay inDrive the money the company spends on legal fees because of that court case. They have essentially denied responsibility for anything that goes wrong while the driver uses their platform and if they get involved in any dispute with a passenger,” he said.

The exchange captures the central tension of the review: how much risk a platform that positions itself as a middleman should be allowed to contract out of, and who is left carrying the consequences of a bad trip.

The company’s response

According to its statement, the updated version will reinforce the core philosophy of the business model, which the company described as fundamentally built around pricing autonomy and user agency. inDrive claimed that, unlike traditional ride-hailing networks that rely on rigid, automated, algorithm-driven dynamic pricing, its platform champions a unique peer-to-peer negotiation model that shifts control back to the community.

“We believe it is essential that any public assessment of our policies reflects these updated provisions, which better represent our ongoing efforts to be responsive to our users’ needs and expectations. We remain deeply committed to engaging constructively with our riders, driver-partners, and media stakeholders as we continue to strengthen our policies, practices, and community trust,” the company said.

New provisions not yet reflected in the document body

Technext checked inDrive’s Terms of Use under review and found that its Table of Contents now includes a section (14) which outlines: what the company is responsible for; what it is not responsible for; the limits of its liability; and responsibility between users.

However, the body of the document does not yet reflect anything about this section. The document is clearly still under review, and it remains to be seen whether the full provisions will be made clear by October 30. Between now and the implementation date, the markers to watch are whether section 14’s text is published in full, and how far its wording goes in defining what inDrive accepts responsibility for and where responsibility between users begins.

Source: TechNext24