The Transport Ministry headed by CS James Macharia has released a new set of proposed regulations for taxi hailing apps like Uber and Bolt.
Under the proposed regulations, digital taxi firms will have to pay an application and renewal fee of Ksh. 500,000. Also, the firm must be a corporate body registered with the registrar of companies and have a permanent office in Kenya. There should be a binding agreement between the operator and owners of the vehicles, this agreement should comply with the labour laws and regulations.
The proposed rules dictate that a digital hailing service operator should not charge a commission of more than 15 per cent per trip or levy charges above the commission. This is good news to the drivers who have been complaining that the firms have been charging very high commissions ranging from 20-25% which saw them strike last year.
In regards, to drivers, the new rules indicate that before commencing a trip all digital hailing drivers must provide their passengers with information about the vehicle make and model, registration number, driver’s name photo and the estimated fare rates. Also, they are barred from working for more than eight consecutive hours in one day. This means drivers who work continuously from morning to evening could lose their licenses.