It’s not exactly a beautiful period for the management of Bolt, Uber, and other ride-hailing companies as their drivers have gone on strike over rising fuel costs.
Although a meeting was held with the government on Sunday, it failed to resolve the drivers’ grievances, and they went on strike as planned.
According to the striking drivers, the increase in the price of gasoline has drastically affected their incomes. In turn, Uber had noted that it had increased the price of its rides to help ease the effects of the increase.
For its part, Bolt noted that it had increased its fares by as much as 20 per cent this month. Also, the company is not opposed to the drivers striking. However, it noted that it’s within their rights to strike, and they may do so while respecting the rights of others.
For Bolt, it’s a challenging period because the brand also faces severe public backlash over drivers’ alleged assault of passengers. So far, about two cases have been reported of Bolt drivers raping their passengers in South Africa.
Also, some critics of Bolt have noted that its drivers are untrained and just about anyone can start driving for Bolt without background checks.
