Uber and Bolt drivers have staged demonstrations after the Government failed to implement a commission cap of 18 per cent on fares.
Digital drivers accuse the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) for slowing implementation of the Digital Taxi Hailing Regulation that was gazetted in June 2022.
They say the demo will continue until their grievances are heard by President William Ruto as well as NTSA boss George Njao.
Digital Partners Society (DPS) National Chairman Rhayn Kanyandong told Capital Business drivers are on a go-slow as NTSA takes ages to implement the rule.
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According to Kanyadong, implementation of the regulation has surpassed the 90-days period of enforcement. The regulation seeks to cap fare commission at 18 per cent with Uber charging 25 percent and Bolt 20 per cent.
In 2020, through their lobby (the Digital Taxi Forum), digital taxi drivers asked transport regulators to cap taxi-hailing service operators’ commissions at a maximum of five percent in a raft of proposals submitted to the Senate.
The capping was set to benefit taxi partners who have for a long time decried the charges. But, Uber protested against government plans to cut its commissions from fares by more than 40 percent, saying the move threatens earnings.
Earlier, Uber Country Manager Brian Njao said that the NTSA plans to cap the commissions for taxi hailing firms at 15 percent of the fares will derail growth.
Commissions are a fraction of the fare taxi firms take, meaning the proposed rule will leave less to the companies. “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 re-consider its investments into the country,” Njao said earlier.
A spot-check on various apps revealed that customers were unable to get drivers on the platform, inconveniencing many.
SOURCE: Capital business
