Drivers affiliated with online taxi-hailing apps Uber, Bolt and Little Cab are planning a mass switch-off in protest against low fares amid rising fuel costs.
Through their lobby group E-hailing Transporters Kenya, the drivers have given the management of the apps one month to review the prices or face a switch-off.
“We hereby issue 30-day notice to all the defiant apps that we shall be switching off and deleting all those apps at the end of the 30 days,” said the lobby’s secretary-general Wycliffe Alutalala.
On March 14, 2021, the price of one litre of super petrol went up by Ksh7.63 while that of diesel and kerosene increased by Ksh5.75 and Ksh5.41 respectively.
Currently, a litre of super petrol in Nairobi is retailing at Ksh122.81 while diesel and kerosene are retailing at Ksh107.66 and Ksh97.85 per litre respectively.
Read: Female Bolt Client Allegedly Pulls Gun On Driver Over Sh320 Taxi Fare
The drivers also want the apps to cap commissions at 15 percent. Currently, Uber charges a commission of 25 per cent while Bolt and Little Cab drivers are charged 20 and 19 per cent respectively.
Under the current framework, the apps determine the rules of operation, with a petition sent to the Senate two years ago by the Digital Taxi Forum hitting a snag.
Taxify charges riders Ksh25 a kilometre and Ksh4 per minute on its “lite” option and Ksh35 a kilometre and Ksh5 per minute for regular riders.
Little Cab, owned by Safaricom, charges its riders a base cost of Ksh270, Ksh55 per kilometer and Ksh4 per minute.
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