The taxi operators are decrying the Sh35 price cut that came in effect in July and the 25 per cent commission that Uber takes from their total earnings.
Uber last year cut prices to Sh35 per kilometre down from Sh60. It also reduced its charges per minute by Sh1 to Sh3 and cut the pricing of short rides by Sh100 to Sh200.
The go-slow came as another tussle emerged between Uber drivers and the Kenya Airports Authority following the authority’s decision to block some taxi operators from accessing airports.
Drivers using the Uber online taxi-hailing platform have taken their dispute with the American tech firm to Parliament.
Members of the Digital Taxi Association of Kenya, in their petition to parliamentary Committee on Transport chairman Maina Kamanda, asked for a fare determination structure that sets the minimum cost of journeys to various estates in the city.
The taxi operators are decrying the Sh35 price cut that came in effect in July and the 25 per cent commission that Uber takes from their total earnings.
The second strike by the drivers yesterday caused a price surge for Uber taxis that lasted until 7pm. Price surge is a temporary fares increase effected automatically by Uber when demand for the service outweighs the supply of cars.
Uber last year cut prices to Sh35 per kilometre down from Sh60. It also reduced its charges per minute by Sh1 to Sh3 and cut the pricing of short rides by Sh100 to Sh200 while base fare remained unchanged at Sh100.
Uber drivers started the go-slow on Monday after a meeting in Nairobi.
The operators in Nairobi and Mombasa agreed to hold demonstrations yesterday, today and Monday. Hundreds of drivers yesterday marched from Uhuru Park in Nairobi and partially blocked the road to Parliament for almost an hour as they presented the petition to Mr Kamanda and nominated MP Johnson Sakaja.
Mr Kamanda later addressed the angry crowd calling for patience as he announced plans to meet the stakeholders including the regulators on Monday.
“We need to find a lasting solution to this problem and to this effect we will hold talks on Monday next week with all the stakeholders including the regulator,” he said.
The strike by Kenyan drivers is only the latest to hit the firm after similar industrial action paralysed its operations in India and Qatar last week.
The group joins other city taxi drivers who had petitioned Parliament three weeks ago, asking lawmakers to intervene and set a price for various destinations that have to be observed by all players.
The drivers are proposing a pricing model to be observed by all players and curb exploitative commissions and arbitrarily pricing by dominant market leader without consulting other players.
“We propose the establishment of a transparent pricing formula that will ensure proper segmentation of the market with minimum and maximum bands for boda-bodas, regular taxis and online taxis.
“This will ensure everyone has an opportunity to participate in this market space without unnecessary cannibalisation between the various players and market segments,” the petition read in part.
YELLOW TAXIS
The go-slow came as another tussle emerged between Uber drivers and the Kenya Airports Authority following the authority’s decision to block some taxi operators from accessing airports in favour of the traditional yellow taxis.
Uber taxi drivers claim that airport authorities, acting in concert with the police, had been preventing them from dropping and picking up passengers from the major airports.
Mr Sakaja called for proper legislation and regulation of the taxi industry.
“They (Uber) are threatening striking operators with the 3,000 cars they have on the waiting list. We will also not allow a vicious cycle that deregisters taxi drivers who are fighting for their plight to continue. There needs to be an open pricing formula that adjusts to prevailing market conditions and we must find a deal for Kenya,” said the MP.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
