Commission, daily rate or fixed salary: how to pay your driver
The driver's pay mode changes what they earn, what is left for you, and who carries the risk of the bad days. Here are the three most common modes, and how to compare them.
Commission on revenue
The driver receives a percentage of each day's revenue. On a revenue of 20,000 FCFA, a 25% commission gives them 5,000 FCFA.
- For you: pay follows activity. A bad day costs less.
- For the driver: they have an incentive to work more, but their income varies.
In MOUTOUKA, the rate is set per vehicle. If it is not filled in, 25% applies for the driver and 10% for the controller. A rate of 0% is respected — useful for the owner who drives the vehicle themselves.
The daily rate
The driver receives a fixed amount for each day worked, whatever the revenue: for example 6,000 FCFA per day.
- For you: a predictable cost per day, but a weak day costs you as much as a good one.
- For the driver: a stable income every day they drive.
The fixed monthly salary
The driver receives the same amount every month, for example 130,000 FCFA.
- For you: you carry all the risk of a weak month.
- For the driver: the safest income, independent of revenue.
In MOUTOUKA, the fixed monthly salary is counted in full for every month in which the vehicle recorded at least one revenue entry.
Comparing the three modes over two months
The same vehicle, a good month and a weak month, with fictitious figures:
| Good month | Weak month | |
|---|---|---|
| Days worked and revenue | 26 d · 520,000 | 18 d · 306,000 |
| Commission 25% | 130,000 | 76,500 |
| Daily rate 6,000 | 156,000 | 108,000 |
| Fixed monthly | 130,000 | 130,000 |
Amounts in FCFA, illustrative figures. In the weak month, the commission falls with revenue, the daily rate with the days, and the fixed salary does not move: that is the whole difference in risk between the three modes.
What about the "daily remittance"?
In some arrangements, the driver hands the owner an agreed amount every day and keeps the rest. For the owner, the revenue is then that remittance. In MOUTOUKA, it is recorded as the day's revenue, with a 0% commission: the balance shows what the vehicle really brings you, expenses deducted.
How to choose
- if activity varies a lot from one day to the next, the commission shares the risk;
- if you want to retain a trusted driver, the fixed salary reassures them;
- the daily rate is a compromise: safe for the driver, tied to the days actually worked.
Nothing is final: you can change mode or rate. In MOUTOUKA, pay already calculated on past revenue does not change, and a locked month keeps its settings. The controller, on buses and coaches that have one, follows the same rules.
What MOUTOUKA calculates for you
Choose each vehicle's mode: commission, daily rate or fixed monthly salary. MOUTOUKA calculates the pay with each revenue entry, the month's payroll and the net that comes back to you; the driver checks their pay from their phone. To know whether the vehicle is profitable once the driver is paid, see the guide Calculating the profitability of a taxi.