Bolt kicks against offline trips

Bolt, a ride-hailing transport company, has called on its drivers to desist from offline trips to help promote safe driving practices and enhance the security of their clients. 

Mr Henry Whyte, Senior Operations Manager of Bolt, who made the call, expressed worry about the growing trend, especially in Kumasi, where drivers opt for offline trips due to fuel price increase and bargain with riders.  

“This is a dangerous act, because when one engages in this, Bolt does not have the track of the ride.  

If one takes an offline trip with a rider, it means one has taken a trip off the app, and Bolt does not have visibility into your movement and if anything happens on the trip, Bolt cannot help you out,” he explained and called on drivers to desist from offline trips to enhance safety. 

Mr Whyte, speaking at Bolt’s Driver Safety Summit in Kumasi, indicated that safety was increasingly becoming more important due to the feedback including general accidents and thefts, which were on the rise from both drivers and passengers. 

He indicated that it was necessary for the company to pay attention to these complaints and put in measures to safeguard drivers and riders. 

The summit provided the platform to discuss safety innovations, share experiences and strengthen Bolt’s commitment to create and augment a secure ride-hailing experience. 

It was also used to address concerns about pricing to improve earnings. 

Mr Amos Abakah, Ashanti Regional Director, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), indicated that, pick up to drop off must be regulated to ensure that at every point in time proper monitoring could take place, there is trace, feedback, and accountability. 

As a result of this, he said, a number of systems had been put in place to resolve these security challenges. 

They included operators of digital transport registering with the DVLA and being certified to obtain a “digital transport system operator identity,” operators must have a registered company whose nature of business is operating digital transport and be registered with the Ghana Revenue Authority. 

Operators should have safety policies in place for passengers and drivers, operators should have a system for receiving and resolving complaints and the fare charged by the digital transport operating system should be competitive, fair, and transparent. 

Source: GNA 

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