Bolt to suspend drivers who solicit offline trips

 

E-hailing firm, Bolt, has disclosed that it will henceforth suspend any of its driver who solicit offline trips within its operational system.

To this end, the firm has introduced an in-app cancellation feature to discourage riders from taking offline trips.

According to a statement, offline trips occur when riders take trips without utilising the Bolt app’s online features in ways such as a driver negotiating a lower fare price with the rider − which may expose them to a number of risks.

Bolt reported that it had suspended at least 5,000 drivers in Nigeria, in the last few months, as a result of disregarding the rules and creating security concerns. This was made known by Yahaya Mohammed, the country’s Manager.

Offline trips on ride-hailing platforms like Bolt have become increasingly popular in Abuja since the fuel hike in May. Although fares were increased by about 30–40% after an extended conversation between the drivers and the company, the drivers still insist that the new prices are insufficient to cover operating costs, and have resorted to duplicitous means to avoid remitting the 25% commission to the company.

The rise in e-hailing offline trips is often triggered by drivers seeking alternative ways to make an increased income, by soliciting riders to cancel an ongoing trip in order to “pay less” by taking the trip offline. Drivers often benefit from this because they collect 100 per cent of the trip fare instead of only collecting a fraction of the funds − which are often split with Bolt and the vehicle owner.

With the new cancellation option, riders can now cancel a trip by selecting the option 'driver asked to pay off-the-app' under specific circumstances.

This feature empowers riders to take immediate action should they encounter situations where the driver asks for payment for a trip outside the app, requests payment exceeding the agreed-upon trip fare, or encourages cancellation of the trip to go offline.

Upon selection of this feature, riders have the option to request another trip via the app.

‘’We're happy to introduce our latest cancellation option, designed to cut down on offline trips and address instances where drivers insist on charging rates exceeding those on the app,” Sandra Suzanne Buyole, public relations manager at Bolt Africa, said.

“At Bolt, we strongly discourage both drivers and riders from using the platform to exchange contact details or negotiate for offline trips.

‘’This behaviour goes against the safety and reliability we aim to uphold for our users. When drivers and riders go offline, essential safety features in the app, like GPS tracking and SOS coverage, become inactive, leaving users vulnerable and without access to critical in-app safety tools.”

Bolt says it has put mitigating actions in place for drivers who are continuously reported as soliciting offline trips. These include temporary account blocking and account suspensions.