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Bolt and Uber drivers in Kenya are protesting the slow implementation of Digital Taxi Hailing Regulation, a new ride-hailing regulation in the East African country.
The disgruntled drivers down-tooled and took to the streets of Nairobi to air their grievances, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and forced to pay higher fees as prices surges from resulting scarcity.
Drivers are accusing the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), the country’s transport regulator, of slowing the implementation process of the regulation since it was gazetted in June. Rhayn Kanyandong, chairman of The Digital Partners Society (DPS), a coalition of ride-hailing drivers, blamed the NTSA for failing to implement the regulation 90 days after it was enacted.
The regulation, which was a product of a previous driver’s protest, has been in the works since 2016 and seeks to cap commission charges at 18%. Currently, ride-hailing platforms in the country Bolt and Uber charges a 20% and 25% commission respectively per trip.
The slow implementation process is unsurprising considering that Uber, in a bid to protect its earnings, went to court to annul the regulation.
Uber is saying that this regulation will derail growth and discourage investments in the country. “The introduction of 18% as the ceiling for allowable commission has the potential to stifle innovation and reduce the petitioner’s economic feasibility of investing in the market,” Uber said in its petition.
“Uber is not against the NTSA regulations; we believe that they will be effective in streamlining the sector. However, we are against the capping of the commission. It will cut our revenue and force the company to reconsider its investments into the country,” Uber’s Country Manager Brian Njao said in an earlier interview.
Ride-hailing drivers protests against commission charges are not new on the continent. In August, South African drivers protested for a reduction of Uber’s commission from 25% to 10%.