Digital taxi drivers ground services, demand better working conditions

Digital taxi operations have today been affected in Nairobi after drivers went on strike to protest over alleged poor pay and a bad working environment.

The strike which affected nearly all the digital taxi platforms led to heavy traffic snarl along Waiyaki Way and other city roads as some drivers' tyres were deflated and abandoned on the roads.

The operators in the city are demanding special parking lots for picking up and dropping passengers and are also lamenting of poor relationship with the county.

Those who spoke cited constant harassment by county officers accusing plain clothes officers of impounding their vehicles.

“Reject App prices. They own the App, we own the price,” some of the placards the drivers carried read.

“We demand justice for online taxi drivers. Stop neocolonialism.”

Passengers who were affected said they were asked to alight from their cars and use public service vehicles.

In some instances, the striking drivers mounted roadblocks to nab the drivers who defied their calls to go on strike.

A spot check by the Star showed several other taxi vehicles parked by the roadside along Waiyaki Way Musuem Hill, City Hall Way and Chiromo areas.

Booking service for a ride from any of the platforms was, however, available.

Digital Tax Association chairman David Muteru told the Star in an interview that they will only suspend the strike if the government agrees to address their grievances.

Muteru claimed the government has taken too long to develop a policy that will it possible for the drivers and application companies to agree on pricing, deactivation and general work conditions.

“There is currently no infrastructure or framework despite several efforts to push for it and that is why drivers are out to express this displeasure,” he said.

“We are suffering a lot as drivers, when you go to the Application companies they direct you to the government and when the drivers go to the ministry they do not get any assistance."

Some of the demands listed by the organisation of online drivers under Bolt include compensation for night trips and trips to areas with no demand and the unblocking of drivers whose accounts have been deactivated, suspended or revoked.

They also want security measures put in place to ensure passengers have profiles so that they are identified in the event of crime of insecurity incidents.

On payment, the drivers want to be paid a minimum of Sh300 for trips of less than three kilometres.