Cases of harassment in cab services drove the proprietor to start a taxi app just for women.
A new taxi app targeting only women riders has been launched in Nairobi.
An Nisataxi is the brain child of Mehnaz Sarwar. She says recent cases of taxi harassment have demonstrated the need to protect women.
“I really wanted to create an app for women who share the same beliefs as I do. I felt that it was time for women to be ferried around without worrying about their safety,” she says.
The app, launched last Sunday, is available on android devices. Ms Sarwar says she also wanted to create a conducive platform for female drivers to earn a living.
Already 80 drivers are on the platform.
“Female drivers have to deal with drunk clients and that can be a hostile work environment for them,” she says.
Although her prices are slightly higher than the rest of the cab services in the country, Ms Sarwar says this is the result of discussions she had with her drivers prior to starting the venture.
“The base cost is Sh300 and we charge Sh40 per kilometre… we factored in current fuel costs in a bid to cushion the drivers. This is subject to review should the prices go down,” she says.
Ms Sarwar gets 10 per cent of the trips the drivers make to ran the company.
“Most of the apps are headed by corporates from outside, Kenya who have no idea what it is like for the driver here in Kenya and that to me is where they miss the mark,” she says. Farida Khamis, one of the drivers, says the 90 per cent earnings share for the drivers is encouraging.
“I can be able to pick few rides and make good money rather than overwork myself,” she says.
An Nisa also finds partners for those who do not have vehicles and Ms Khamis says the 80 per cent of the drivers hire vehicles or are employed by people who own vehicles.
Ms Sarwar says the cab service will also be child-friendly with car seats tailor-made for them.
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