After years of complaints by Bolt drivers about the lack of an office to direct their complaints to, the e-hailing company has launched an in-person engagement centre for it's driver-partners in Randburg, Johannesburg.
The company said the office would enhance driver relations and address driver concerns, while the offices would also serve as a ‘Lost and Found Centre’ for passengers who may have forgotten their personal items during trips on the Bolt e-hailing app.
Like their rivals Uber, who have a similar office in Kramerville, Sandton, Bolt’s offices will be available to drivers by appointment only to “ensure seamless and effective management of driver issues”. The offices are located on 29 Bond Street, Randburg.
Bolt’s regional manager for East and Southern Africa, Takura Malaba, said they wanted to see their drivers earn more on the platform.
“To further this commitment, we are also recruiting for a Community Specialist in South Africa who will have the exciting role of coordinating and executing driver engagement programmes in collaboration with the local operations teams across all our driver engagement channels,” he said.
Bolt has committed $500 million to improve operations in Africa, while in South Africa it also announced a partnership with the Automobile Association (AA) to provide emergency response service integrated into the Bolt app.
The integrated function allows the AA to access the drivers location and to quickly deploy private security and emergency response where needed.
Other benefits for drivers include:
– Six free doctors consultations can be accessed through TeleDoctor, which is a virtual platform and not in-person.
– Trauma counselling in the event of any traumatic incident while using the platform.
– Trip Protection, an insurance product which covers the emergency medical expenses, permanent disability, and death caused by an incident while on a Bolt trip.