This archive report was first published on 16 July 2019.
On July 15, 2019, a strike by online taxi drivers in Nairobi led to a significant increase in prices for app-based services, with customers facing long wait times for rides.
According to reports, the strike was intended to push for higher pay from the operators, with the drivers seeking to double the cost per kilometre of rides from the current Sh16 for Uber and Sh14 for Bolt, and Sh20 for Little to match the rates set by the Automobile Association of Kenya (AA) of Sh45 per kilometre.
The drivers also wanted commissions for the apps to be standardised at 10 percent of the total earnings down from the current 25 percent charged by Uber and 15 percent charged by Bolt. Little has been charging a commission of five percent.
As a result of the strike, prices of the app-based services surged for most routes within Nairobi and its environs, with a trip from the city centre to Thindigua priced at Sh1,010 on the UberX option, more than double the ordinary charges.
Conventional taxis hiked their fares by between 10 and 20 percent to take advantage of the increased demand, with a taxicab driver outside the Nation Centre building saying, "I have made more trips today than in the recent past, in turn making more money."
Uber maintained that it would only engage the drivers and partners directly and not jointly as protesting groups, stating, "At Uber, we respect driver-partners as valuable partners with a voice and we want them to feel they can talk to us about anything at any time."
