Million

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Lola

Safety

Leading ride-hailing company in Nigeria, <a href="http://bolt.eu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bolt</a> says it deactivated more than 5,000 drivers from its platform in 2023. This was disclosed by the Regional Manager for North and West Africa, Lola Masha, during the launch of the Bolt Safety Awareness Campaign in Lagos. According to her, the mass blocking was not due to any specific infractions by the drivers but rather a general cleanup of its driver database. 
“Similar to the way you will clean up your files, your laptops, and your customer base, we basically went through our database and decided to make sure that what we have active represents our current active driver partners. We do have a rating system so it is an ongoing process, it is not a one-time thing when we make a big effort to block out hundreds and thousands. It is an ongoing process,” Lola said. 
The Regional lead also noted that the company would continue the same exercise this year and that it would be based on the driver’s score. <a href="https://technext24.com/2024/10/20/fuel-price-uber-bolt-driver-score/">Technext has previously reported</a> that the Nigerian drivers’ union, the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON) demanded that ride-hailing companies like Uber and Bolt discard the driver score feature. 
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 <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://technext24.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Lola-Masha-Bolt.jpg" alt="Bolt launches safety awareness campaign with €100 Million investment" class="wp-image-239266">
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 Lola Masha
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According to the Lagos chapter chairman of the union, Comrade Jaiyesimi Azeez, the feature is one of the factors limiting drivers’ earnings in the face of rising fuel prices. He said the feature causes economic and psychological stress to the drivers because it does not avail them the flexibility they require to do their jobs and earn more many to stave off the hardship. 
“The Driver Score Feature causes economic instability and psychological stress. The current system forces drivers to bear the brunt of fuel price increases while your commission remains intact. This is unsustainable and unjust. The removal of the Driver Score feature will promote flexibility and freedom,” Comrade Jaiyesimi said. 
However, according to Bolt’s regional manager, the feature does not seem to be going away anytime soon. Explaining the driver score, Lola Masha said it is a fully transparent process, where the drivers know what their score is and why they have it. 
She also pointed out that the drivers know the different guidelines that add up to their score and it does not always have to involve safety. 
She said it could also include different metrics on how often they accept trips or around the way they behave to riders. 
“If we see that this particular driver is getting reports from riders around being rude or whatever else it is, all of those different metrics add up to the overall driver score. So it is not simply that the driver committed an egregious incident or a crime. It is different indicators that then add up to an overall driver score. And based on your driver’s score, it determines what the consequence for your bad behaviour is,” she said. 
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 <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="450" src="https://technext24.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/AUATON.png" alt="AUATON faction emerges, seeks removal of Adedamola Adeniran’s executives" class="wp-image-233064">
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 AUATON had previously demanded the removal of the driver score feature
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She also noted that punishments do not have to go to the extent of being blocked permanently as there are different steps that the company takes. These range from warnings and advising drivers on how best to rectify their behaviour and by extension their score, to temporary blocking for a day or two, especially if the company believes the driver is only stressed. 
“So it is a very robust and dynamic process that we use to ensure that the drivers that we provide our riders are truly of their best behaviour and they are truly ready to provide the best service at any point in time,” she said. 
<h4 id="bolt-admits-losing-drivers-due-to-fuel-price-hike" class="wp-block-heading">Bolt admits losing drivers due to fuel price hike</h4> 
The Estonia-headquartered e-mobility company also admitted that it has unwittingly lost a number of drivers in Nigeria who can no longer continue with the business due to fuel prices. This was revealed by Bolt Nigeria General Manager, Osi Oguah. According to him, the fuel price hike is one policy that has affected the entire economy, reducing disposable income and the ride hailing industry is no different. 
“Coming to our industry, you have a situation where because of inflation people cannot buy cars as often as they would do. So there is that trimming that is going on and it is not something I can say I can speak to specifically because it is affecting all the operators in the industry. So to that point, yes, you will expect some reduction but, like I said, it is industry-wide, not just a Bolt thing,” Oguah said. 
The company, however, said it is adapting to the realities because no matter what happens in the economy people have to move around. According to the Regional Manager, Lola Masha, the only thing that really changes is that people make adjustments and as such, the company is more focused on adapting itself to the way that users are adjusting. 
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 <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1620" height="1080" src="https://technext24.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/image.png" alt="Bolt Nigeria to suspend drivers who solicit offline trips as it introduces offline trip cancellation for riders" class="wp-image-219607">
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 Bolt admits losing drivers due to fuel price hike
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Therefore, the worry is less about how many drivers there is but rather the changes that riders are making due to the harsh times. 
“How is his behaviour changing and how are we ensuring that he is selecting Bolt at every point in time? So that speaks to our culture of being innovative. How do we learn about how the rider’s behaviour is changing and adjusting ourselves as well to that? Whether that is around the price of the ride or even the way they take the ride. Are riders now sharing rides, and how do we tap into that? Are you taking shorter trips? What we prioritise is ensuring that we are solving the transportation challenge for our riders and we are adapting our way of working to align with what we see in the local market,” Lola said. 
See also: <a href="https://technext24.com/2024/11/08/bolt-launch-safety-campaign-100-million/">Bolt launches safety awareness campaign backed by €100 Million investment</a>
The post <a href="https://technext24.com/2024/11/09/bolt-nigeria-block-5000-drivers-in-2023/">Bolt Nigeria blocked 5,000 drivers in 2023, insists on driver score feature despite AUATON’s demand</a> first appeared on <a href="https://technext24.com">Technext</a>.

Bolt Nigeria blocked 5,000 drivers in 2023, insists on driver score feature despite AUATON’s demand

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