Operating in Port Harcourt, e-hailing drivers have formally petitioned ride- hailing enterprise Bolt to restructure its performance guidelines, stating that heavily automated metrics fail to account for practical challenges encountered on Nigerian roads. Within an official release, the drivers explained that evaluation benchmarks governing acceptance rates and general driver scores have induced widespread anxiety and operational friction.
What are the core grievances of the Port Harcourt drivers?
The drivers expressed deep concern over operational fairness and worker autonomy, highlighting that the underlying technology frequently penalizes operators for rejecting rides due to legitimate operational bottlenecks. According to the petition, penalizing operators for declining trips—often caused by poor GPS mapping, restricted entry points, or unsafe pickup locations—undermines basic business logic. The association questioned the fairness of suspending drivers over geographical limitations that fall outside human control.
Furthermore, the automation-driven account suspensions have pushed affected individuals into desperate alternatives, including renting profiles from third parties to sustain their livelihoods and support their households. Unverified claims regarding clandestine account distribution channels have also surfaced, casting doubts on institutional transparency and equitable access within the platform's administrative framework.
Why are drivers demanding a review of performance policies?
The aggrieved operators argued that current evaluation parameters reduce human workers to mechanical entities bound to software outputs rather than genuine passenger satisfaction. They have outlined specific demands for management to humanize operational rules. These include granting operators the liberty to decline trips without unjust sanctions, ensuring ratings evaluate true service quality rather than environmental limitations, and instituting fair dispute resolution mechanisms before any account deactivation occurs.
Emphasizing their status as independent economic partners rather than automated units, the drivers urged the company to prioritize transparent engagement, equitable resource allocation, and enhanced working conditions over rigid metric enforcement.