The operators existing as Kenya Digital Taxi Forum are faulting what they describe as a slump in their business on a 20 per cent user rate charged by Bolt –a ride hailing company.
The four hundred operators say the commission is too high and many operators are now slamming on their brakes and abandoning the business.
The forum’s Secretary General Wycliffe Walutala says the commission Bolt claims on every transaction made by operators using its application is high and hurtful to their business.
He says the management of the service provider did not consult the forum when it decided to hike the commission from 10 percent four months ago.
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Walutula says the operation costs under the aegis of the application are also high and often leave the operators with money that is hard to live of comfortably.
Drivers say with consistent losses courtesy of lofty bonuses for clients coupled with high operation costs, many are unable to service loans used to acquire cars.
As uncompromising lenders issue ultimatums, most of the members are now facing auction and depression.
A Bolt cub driver Daniel Adoli says fear and anxiety looms large among operators using the mobile application.
He says the new user rate is increasingly hampering their daily targets and is just as much as edging them out of the iconic taxi business as is breeding disaffection between them and their employers.
The driver laments losses incurred by the operators that cover long distances outside the town`s Central Business District saying the money that the application charges for the distance does not make an economic sense to operators.
Adoli wants the owners of the application to re-calibrate the application to ensure that the distance covered