Bolt, the digital taxi firm, has increased fares on its services in Kenya in response to the soaring fuel prices, News About Nigeria gathered.
The move comes as the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) raised fuel prices in the country.
The ride-hailing company announced that it had adjusted prices due to “challenging macroeconomic factors affecting the public transport sector.” In Nairobi, these fare adjustments apply to all categories, with base fares ranging from Sh70 (₦361) and Sh100 (₦516).
The minimum fare has also increased, with a range of Sh200 (₦1,033) and Sh250 (₦1,292) across the categories.
Bolt has also introduced higher pricing per kilometre and a long-distance rate. This change will be implemented across all categories in Bolt’s networks, including Mombasa, Kisumu, Kakamega, Nakuru, Naivasha, and the Mt. Kenya region.
Linda Ndungu, Bolt Country Manager, explained that this fare adjustment aims to help drivers mitigate the increasing fuel costs.
She emphasised that the interests of the driver community are vital to Bolt, and the company believes that happy drivers offer better-quality service to customers.
“At Bolt, the interests of our driver community remain at the heart of our business and we truly believe that happy drivers provide better quality service for customers. As such, we have adjusted our price to mitigate the rising fuel costs.
“This adjustment reaffirms our commitment to offering top earnings for drivers on our platform and to remain the preferred, cost-effective choice for our customers,” said Ndungu.
This adjustment reflects Bolt’s commitment to providing drivers on its platform with top earnings and remaining a cost-effective choice for customers.
This move follows previous concerns from digital taxi drivers using Bolt’s platform who felt that the company’s pricing model had not kept up with the rising cost of living and rapidly increasing fuel prices.
Bolt mentioned that they recently launched a driver engagement centre to address driver concerns and improve relations with drivers.
