FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
ACHRAMS
Airport Car Hire Rank Management System
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
A point-by-point response to misinformation about airport car-hire regulation, passenger choice, safety, fares and the role of e-hailing operators
| THE CENTRAL FACT ACHRAMS is not a general e-hailing app. It is FAAN’s airport-specific digital rank, dispatch, identification and operational oversight system for orderly car-hire pick-ups within FAAN-managed airport environments. |
Prepared for public information, stakeholder engagement and media response
22 August 2026
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What does ACHRAMS stand for?
A. Airport Car Hire Rank Management System. The name describes its limited function: managing airport car-hire ranks and their authorised operations.
Q. Is ACHRAMS an e-hailing company?
A. No. It is an airport operations and queue-management platform. It does not build a citywide driver marketplace, seek off-airport trips or compete for general public transportation business.
Q. Why does it look similar to an e-hailing app?
A. Both may use maps, mobile interfaces, notifications, identity data and matching logic. Shared technology does not mean shared purpose—just as Airbnb resembles hotel booking without being a hotel.
Q. Who owns and governs airport operations under ACHRAMS?
A. FAAN governs the airport operating rules. Participating car-hire companies provide the transport service; authorised drivers perform the trips; ACHRAMS supplies the digital controls and records.
Q. Does ACHRAMS stop Bolt or Uber from operating outside airports?
A. No. Its operating scope concerns commercial airport pick-ups within FAAN-managed airport environments.
Q. Why should airport pick-ups have special rules?
A. Airports are controlled, high-security, high-traffic environments. Unregulated stopping, staging and solicitation cause congestion, passenger vulnerability, queue conflict and weak incident traceability. Airport authorities worldwide apply special landside rules.
Q. Must passengers install the passenger app?
A. No. Passengers can be served through an authorised service or dispatch desk. This supports visitors without smartphones, data, digital confidence or local app access.
Q. Can a passenger book before arriving?
A. Where pre-booking is enabled, a passenger may make an advance request within the airport service design. Availability and assignment remain subject to airport and operator rules.
Q. Does ACHRAMS collect passenger fares?
A. No. ACHRAMS does not process the passenger’s trip payment. It provides a fare estimate based on car-hire price cards; the final transport arrangement and payment are between passenger and driver/operator.
Q. Who determines the fare estimate?
A. Rates are determined based on destination and also consider the fact that an airport car hire cab only has a rider one way. Driver would drop and have to return to the airport without any rider viz-a-viz any revenue but would still incur cost.
Q. Can the passenger negotiate?
A. Yes, according to the stated operating model, the displayed amount is an estimate and the passenger and driver may agree the final fare.
Q. How does ACHRAMS improve passenger safety?
A. It links a dispatch to a registered operator, driver and vehicle; captures relevant identity and vehicle documentation; records assignment details; supports operational monitoring; and provides an incident trail for authorised investigation.
Q. What driver information is checked?
A. The onboarding process includes identity and licensing information such as NIN, driver’s licence, photograph and airport/operator documentation, subject to FAAN’s review and activation workflow.
Q. What vehicle information is checked?
A. The workflow includes vehicle particulars and relevant compliance documents such as insurance, roadworthiness, hire-car/airport permits and proof of ownership or lawful use, according to applicable requirements.
Q. Does vetting guarantee that no incident can occur?
A. No responsible system can promise zero risk. Vetting reduces anonymity and strengthens deterrence, accountability and investigation. Security also requires trained staff, AVSEC response, enforcement, data protection and passenger awareness.
Q. Is there a panic or SOS function?
A. The passenger and driver app design includes a panic/SOS function where enabled. It can alert the authorised back office with trip context. Its effectiveness depends on correct configuration, connectivity, response procedures and regular testing.
Q. Does ACHRAMS track a passenger everywhere?
A. No. It should process only the location and trip information necessary for the defined airport service, safety and operational purpose, in line with access controls, retention rules and Nigeria’s data-protection requirements.
Q. What is geofencing used for?
A. Geofencing helps restrict operational functions to the authorised airport vicinity and supports airport queue/check-in rules. It is a boundary-control feature, not proof that ACHRAMS is a citywide e-hailing service.
Q. How is the driver queue made fairer?
A. Eligible checked-in drivers are placed in an organized queue, and trips can be assigned under controlled rules, with authorized dispatcher intervention for defined exceptions. This reduces favouritism, queue-jumping and physical disputes.
Q. Why are dispatchers still required?
A. Airports need human operational control for accessibility, exceptions, connectivity failures, special passengers, incidents and traffic conditions. Technology supports dispatchers; it does not abolish operational responsibility.
Q. What happens during an outage?
A. The responsible FAAN SOP provides controlled fallback dispatch, incident logging, reconciliation after restoration, escalation contacts and status communication. Redundancy and offline continuity are tested during the pilot.
Q. How does FAAN benefit financially?
A. ACHRAMS creates auditable operational records that reduce opaque manual processes and support revenue assurance, reconciliation and detection of leakage, in line with FAAN’s long term cashless initiative to totally eradicate the payment of concession fees by drivers in cash.
Q. How does FAAN use the data?
A. Dashboards can show demand by terminal/time, trip outcomes, waiting times, cancellations, no-driver events, operator and driver performance, vehicle-category demand, incidents and revenue indicators – helping management improve service and resource allocation.
Q. Can ACHRAMS scale nationally?
A. Yes, ACHRAMS is a national project covering all FAAN managed airports but being rolled out in phases to test capacity, security and availability to ensure they meet the engineered standard. The national rollout is using selected airports for onboarding, performance baselines, load tests, monitoring, incident management and airport-by-airport readiness assessment.
Q. How should complaints be handled?
A. Complaints are received via any of the official FAAN approved communication channels (email, WhatsApp, social media, ACHRAMS support, dispatch desk) with a reference number and are classified as technical, fare-related, driver conduct, safety, availability or policy. Evidence includes time, airport, booking reference, screenshots and outcome. Trends – not anecdotes alone – are the driving corrective action.
Q. Is criticism of ACHRAMS legitimate?
A. Constructive, evidence-based criticism is legitimate and useful. Claims should distinguish policy disputes from technical faults, provide verifiable details, and acknowledge resolved incidents and pilot status.
