Who will first flash between taxi drivers and technology companies :: Kenya

During a drive from downtown Nairobi to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Thursday night, driver Timothy Kigo demonstrated how the capture of the market by taxi applications has buckled the loop.

Uber improves the driver, the customer's privacy

It's only his third round for the day. He is frustrated, angry and slowly loses hope. "It's not that we do not appreciate that they make it easier for customers to get, but the number of taxis has reached a level where you have to work non-stop and you still can not not survive what you take at home at the end of the day, "he lamented.

"Two years ago, if I drove you to the airport, I would be sure to have a customer on the trip and the salary was good, Sh60 per kilometer." Now this trip is in Sh850 and I have to pay parking and I am not sure of having a customer, "he said.

To bring back at least 1,000 shillings after a 15-hour shift, Kigo has to drive about 300 km, or 6,000 gross shillings, of which 3,000 shillings, the owner and still pay Taxify 15 percent or Uber 25 for percent of total earnings.

For the past week, people in big cities have been forced to dig in their pockets to hail taxis while motorists are staying off the road in hopes of forcing companies who use taxis to make concessions.

The strike, which lasted nine days, was the longest ever conducted by drivers who accuse taxi app companies of withering them. Both parties holding on to their arms, the case was taken over by the Ministry of Transport in the hope that an agreement would be found.

And when an agreement was announced on Tuesday, most of its clauses indicated that it may not have been the last time the pilots collided with the companies in the application. For example, a request for government regulation has not been conclusively processed, as has the price floor.

Instead, digital taxi application providers (DTAPs) and drivers have agreed, among other things, to have structured commitments in the future. "This includes allowing their pilots and riders to access relevant information.This process will be monitored quarterly by the National Transport and Safety Authority and the Nairobi Transport and Security Committee. ", says part of the agreement.

"The DTAP will also protect drivers against price differences during price / promotion changes while ensuring that there are systems that divide the payable cash to the owner and driver into relationships. driver-partner. "

Why Uber pilots will not have access to the rider's phone number

Lovers of taxi apps will pay more to use the service.

But with the taxi industry that operates informally as the matatu sector, it is now a question of whether the taxi companies will respect the end of their contract this time. Around the world, similar conflicts between companies with applications and drivers have become commonplace.

In Kenya, the situation is complicated by the fact that drivers are hired by the car owners, who are the real partners of the taxi companies. As in the case of matatu, most owners give drivers daily goals instead of paying them a fixed salary in daily collections. Insurance companies, application providers and financial institutions must also be paid from what is left over.

In September last year, drivers forced Uber, the market leader to raise prices for rides at Sh42 per km. However, in the absence of a written agreement and in order to maintain its position in the market, which was attacked by new applications, Uber has gradually reduced its prices.

Market dynamics mean that when Uber drops its prices, other players have to do it unless they want to be kicked out. The result has been a benefit to customers and a disadvantage for drivers who need to understand with lower incomes, higher fuel prices and requests from vehicle owners.

"It's slavery, they were paying us 60 shillings per km and we were doing good business, prices continue to fall but the commission they demand has remained constant," he said. Is complaining Abel Kirui, another driver.

The drivers insist that this should be increased by at least 60 shillings per kilometer, that the minimum tariff be raised to 300 shillings and that commissions be reduced to 10%

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Digital taxi drivers negotiate better wage deal, end nine-day strike

They say many cars cost at least 45 shillings per kilometer to power and maintain. They also want taxi application companies to register vehicles with similar engine capabilities in order to level the operating costs.

Take the leader of the market

The current scenario is a complete reversal of the situation from the year 2016, when local operators protested bitterly about how taxi companies had come to take their business, leading to several months of violent confrontations.

Now the honeymoon for drivers who have signed up for apps is over and it's their turn to cry. How to stand out from a system that is the standard measure of how technology can cause disruption while being a hit with consumers is the bump on the road.

"At the bottom of their hearts, taxi companies know that what they do is not good," said David Muteru, president of Digital Taxis Association.

One of the ways in which drivers intend to attack tech companies is to launch their own application. A "Beba Beba" application is already tested.

In reality, it is a daunting challenge given that more than 10 apps have been launched over the last three years to try to conquer the market leader, but only the most expensive. Estonian application Taxify has managed to impose it. Other apps operating in Kenya include Little and MondoRide.

The most recent application to launch was ShareCab in the hope of attracting drivers by charging them a fixed monthly rate instead of commissions levied by current operators.

But like others before him, ShareCab has not gained traction and aware of this, the drivers also want the government to declare transportation companies as transport companies and not as transportation companies. technology.

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Uber, Taxify ended the strike

Last year, the highest court in Europe made a similar decision stating that Uber was a transportation company that qualified it as a service taxi.
Doing this in Kenya will bring taxi companies under the jurisdiction of county governments and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), which will bring with it some regulations, something that app operators do not want .
Janet Kemboi, spokeswoman for Uber in Kenya, says they "constantly monitor rates and test pbadengers' sensitivities to make sure prices are properly calculated so pbadengers continue to travel." and that drivers have access to more paying pbadengers. "

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