Digital taxi drivers in Nairobi are on a go-slow today, demanding better pay and enforcement of the rule that requires digital taxi platforms to take only an 18% commission for every ride.
The drivers are protesting in Nairobi, but I understand that the protest isn’t organized by the association meant to represent them but by the drivers themselves. Many drivers I spoke to argue that they cannot trust the association leaders as they can be compromised.
According to a driver I interviewed, one of their demands is for the enforcement of the Ksh 300 minimum per trip. He said this is not fully enforced, putting the drivers in a tight spot as they have very little left after factoring in fuel costs and the commission platforms like Uber and Bolt take. To work around this, some drivers have started asking riders to pay more than what is indicated on the app, similar to practices in Mombasa. Some drivers even ask riders to cancel the ride while still taking them to their destination, meaning the trip is not tracked by the app.
The drivers are also planning to frustrate those who do not join their protest today. They plan to request taxis using different apps and, when the driver arrives, ambush them and force them to switch off their apps and not take any more rides. This may be a way to get the attention of the online taxi apps.
The drivers also claim that digital taxi platforms still take more than the 18% commission required by law. They allege that Uber and Bolt are notorious for this, which is why many of them prefer to use Little and Yego. Their only issue is that these two platforms can be a bit expensive, and most customers avoid them, opting for the apps that drivers do not prefer.
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