“The safety of our community of drivers and passengers is a fundamental foundation for our business.” – Bolt
In response to an article published by Nairametrics detailing how high commissions force Uber and Bolt drivers to woo passengers offline, ride-hailing app, Bolt, has released a press statement assuring patrons of their commitment to the safety of passengers and the welfare of drivers using the platform for business.
“The safety of our community of drivers and passengers is a fundamental foundation for our business. We take issues that have a material impact on them very seriously.
“Therefore, we strongly advise drivers and passengers to follow our community guidelines regarding “offline” trips that may be of significant risk to their safety. Bolt cannot monitor trips taken outside its platform, and our insurance scheme does not cover such trips, nor can we provide support to law enforcement if any safety-related issues occur,” they said.
The statement, seen by Nairametrics, further detailed that the company constantly strives to find operational and technological improvements that make drivers and passengers safer on the Bolt platform.
“We continue to actively extend and improve our safety toolkit, which currently includes VoIP calls to secure driver and passenger information, an in-app SOS button linked to available emergency response and more,” they added.
They explained that the company has a high-priority team that monitors and investigates all reported safety-related incidents and escalates to law enforcement agencies to ensure all incidents can be investigated appropriately. In addition, Bolt trips are insured for every driver and passenger on every trip at no extra cost. These facilities are, however, only available for trips taken on the Bolt platform.
On the issue of pricing, Bolt stated, “Our responsibility is to ensure that driving with Bolt is profitable and we remain an affordable and reliable way for passengers to move in their city. All our decisions regarding pricing and commissions are taken with these objectives in mind.”
The statement from Bolt was concluded with a reiteration of the ride-hailing platform’s commitment to drivers’ welfare, and their quest to remain a socially responsible platform that protects and advances the rights of ride-hailing drivers and in no way infringes on or limits their legal rights.
It’s not about responding or doing fake press conferencesto counter a research work exposingthe loop holes in your app. All these responses did not make bolt a secure platform neither did it makes bolt a good app that attends to the welfare of drivers. As at today the on trip insurance is being charged from Driver’s earnings and not from bolt’s humongous commissions. And yet riders and drivers are still left to sort themselves out if there is accidents on trips.
Instead of having a steady commensurate fare bolt will inflate price in the name of surge to appease Driver’s any time they are short of drivers or anytime drivers are planning strike.
Bolt deceives both rider and drivers just to get their own commission.
As at today 13th November 2021 that I’m writing this, Both driver and riders are not safe using bolt App because of poor profiling. There are many things I wouldn’t want to talk about in order not to put Nigerians in danger as criminals can try it on bolt app and go untraceable
So if they are saying that riders safety is more important then the drivers are not safe too because I know bolt and the others never take there drivers serious and they have been killing bolt drivers and bolt has never reached out to the families and that is unfair
Bolt should be sincere to itself in Nigeria and do better. Customer service is despicable. The drivers should undergo compulsory trainings on driving and addressing issues that may arise. It should be part of your value proposition. Lastly, quick response to issues. Your field marshalls are mostly concerned about on boarding new clients and not taking feedback, its unpalatable.