PHOTO CAPTION: Kenyan taxi-hailing apps Taxi drivers operating under popular Kenyan hailing apps; Uber, Bolt, Taxify, among many others, now claim that the fleet operators have failed to comply with a recently gazetted law that seeks to protect workers in the industry.
In the legislation passed in July and set to take effect in September (this month), the commission paid by drivers to digital taxi operators was capped at 18 percent per trip.
In other words, for being in Uber and co’s networks, drivers permit these aggregators to keep a certain percentage of whatever they earn for serving customers.
But as drivers on the ground now report to us, the taxi-hailing apps are yet to effect the changes.
The companies are also yet to issue a direction regarding reviewing pricing in consideration of the rise in fuel costs. "Hi Nyakundi, kindly hide my identity. UBER KENYA, BOLT KENYA, and any other online apps were supposed to start charging an 18% commission on all trips. As of today, they have not complied as per the regulation law that was gazetted three months ago. Kindly highlight this and expose these apps. Again, despite the high cost of fuel, they have not even reviewed the pricing. We are going through a tough time. Actually, they are charging us 28% including taxes," the source writes.
Earlier this month, Uber appealed to Kenya’s apex court to annul the new digital taxi-hailing regulations claiming that some aspects are unconstitutional, discriminatory, discouraging to foreign investments, and infringing on its rights and those of its riders and partners.
In court files seen by nyakundireport.com , Uber is contesting Kenya’s decision to cap commission charged per ride at 18% and evaluate pricing structure, saying it would dent its earnings and discourage further investment in the country.
The company argues that Kenya is a free market, where ride-hailing companies have the right to negotiate commercial agreements without external influence. It also claims that the regulations were made and gazetted without following due process and public participation.