Bolt celebrates its tenth anniversary in operation, in a decade that has seen the Estonian-based firm grow exponentially worldwide, while facing important questions from stakeholders, including safety for clients.
- •The ride-hailing company, which operates in more than 500 cities worldwide, has released data that showing trends and highlighting its successes and challenges in 2023
- •In Kenya, the firm’s food delivery service catered to an individual customer’s order of food worth Ksh 89,000, and another order food was delivered 98kms, in 2023.
- •The Estonian-based firm now plans to inject more than Ksh 15 billion in 2024 to expand the service to other towns and cities in Kenya.
“By choosing shared mobility options like ride-hailing, and Bolt Food for food delivery, we replaced more and more use cases for private cars together,” said the firm’s country manager, Linda Ndung’u.
Bolt has also drawn correlations among trends across 45 countries the platform has dominated.
- •According to the firms data, Friday and Saturday evenings take a great chunk of the total pick-up time.
- •Many of the customers prefer using the service when traveling to airports and train stations.
- •Most of its delivery service customers use the platform on Fridays.
The Safety Question
Despite dominating the Kenyan market, the company’s brand image faced an array of complaints from customers who’ve reported being harassed by its drivers. By November 2023, Bolt had deregistered more than 5000 Kenyan drivers from its platform as it moves to exercise stringent security and enforce compliance with its policies.
The company also allocated more than Ksh 20 million to improving safety. The budget was used to train couriers, and bolster its reporting mechanisms to allow customers’ feedback and instant action.
Drivers have also accused the digital ride-hailing platform of charging unauthorized booking fees and hiking commission. In 2022, the regulator introduced an 18% commission limit for all digital ride-hailing platforms. However, drivers have lamented that Bolt violated the directive by charging a higher percentage. The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) intervened by withholding the licensing of the cab company.
- •NTSA declared that renewal of license would take place after the company solves its tiffs with stakeholders.
- •Moreover, the company had to exercise firm control on rogue drivers who harassed customers.
- •While it is not clear whether the resolution was made, the regulator licensed the company in November.
The Future
It is not clear whether Bolt will broaden its services in Nairobi. In other cities, new exciting services like ‘Pet Category’ suit customers who would love to travel alongside furry companions like dogs or cats. The company reported that the ‘Pet Category’ saw a climax of 4.8 million rides in cities that provide it. It would be interesting to see how the service would turn out if replicated in Kenya.
It’s also unclear whether the company will introduce a fleet of electric cars on the continent.