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Bolt ordered to pay driver Sh1 million over breach of TNC laws
The ride-hailing firm said it revised the prices “in response to the challenging macroeconomic factors affecting the public transport sector such as the recent fuel price hike by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra).”
Cab-hailing app Bolt has been ordered to pay a driver more than Sh1 million over its breach of Transportation Network Companies (TNC), Owners, Drivers and Passengers Regulations.
The regulations bar taxi-hailing apps from deducting customers any other charge apart from the commission, a move that made the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) decline to renew the operation license for Bolt.
The Transport Licensing Appeals Tribunal Board chaired by Adrian Kamotho directed the firm to pay Kennedy Wainaina Mbugua for the days he was out of work because the company failed to comply with the regulations.
The driver has accused Bolt of running its affairs outside the terms of the regulations including arbitrary deductions, removal of drivers from the platform, lack of complaint resolution mechanisms and no physical address as legally required among others.
The Tribunal further directed Bolt to immediately restore Mr Mbugua's status before May 31 to operate on the platform and also refund his full cashed out from the transport network platform on May 17, 2023.
"In the end, we find that the Appellant has adequately discharged his burden to the requisite legal threshold. It is our considered view that the 2nd Respondent has failed to comply and or prove compliance with the law including various requirements of the National Transport and Safety Authority (Transport Network Companies, Owners, Drivers and Passengers) Regulations, 2022," the Tribunal said.