Bolt Kenya has hinted that its operating license could be issued today or any time from now. At the same time, the company has announced that it has dropped booking fees that have been quite unpopular among drivers – although riders are the ones who cover the bill. Due to the controversy surrounding the charges, alongside cases of safety among Bolt riders and drivers, the NTSA compelled Bolt to explain the rationale behind the fees and what it planned to do to address the issues about the platform’s safety.
“The licence renewal process is currently in progress with constant engagement and collaboration with the National Transport and Safety Authority, and it is expected to be finalised by Monday, October 30, 2023 as per letter by NTSA to Bolt. With regard to the letter from NTSA concerning the renewal of our licence, we have taken swift action in response to NTSA’s concerns regarding the booking fee and commission. In strict compliance with NTSA’s requirements, Bolt has suspended the booking fee pending clarification with NTSA around the interpretation of the regulation on this particular matter,” Bolt said.
Little Cabs isn’t so happy
Amid the fiasco with the NTSA, Bolt has still been able to run its operations. However, this appears to be a concern with Little Cab. Its CEO Kamal Budhabhatti, expressed his frustration on LinkedIn, arguing that he did not know that an operating license was not mandatory.
“Wish we at Little App Kenya knew that you could operate without a licence on our country Kenya. We would have not put our time, effort, and money to get our licenses. Not sure what precedence we are setting to the business community,” he posted on LinkedIn.
Of course, he is referring to the Bolt story, which, according to the tone of his post, is running operations without the necessary documents.
Little charges 15% in commission. On the other hand, Bolt charges 18% in commission, which is the same as Uber and many others. However, they started charging a booking fee, which the NTSA called illegal.