Uber office remains closed, as drivers protest turns hostile

Taxi hailing service Uber was on Thursday forced to temporarily shut its Nairobi office as a planned protest turned ugly earlier today.

Reports indicate that the Uber Kenya team, made up of a team of approximately 20 employees, is working away from the office, in fear the protest may find its way to its office.

The Uber drivers, together with normal taxi operators, have been disrupting operations, stopping Uber drivers found to be still on the job.

The protest by the taxi drivers has attracted the attention of the Ministry of Transport, which on Monday held a meeting with Uber, urging the firm to audit its pricing mechanism and better engage its drivers.

“The aim of the meeting was to come up with workable proposals that Uber could then undertake to consider for the sake of continuity and the welfare of their business in Kenya,” Transport Principal Secretary Irungu Nyakera said in a statement.

The Uber drivers are protesting what they term as a disproportionate revenue sharing deal with the US based firm after it slashed its fares by 35 percent in August 2016.

In the price cut, Uber set the price at Sh35 per kilometre down from Sh60 while also lowering the charge per minute to Sh1 and set the minimum base fare at Sh200.

Drivers argue with the firm still taking 25 percent of the proceeds, drivers are left with little else, even as the cost of living rises.

The drivers want the commission dropped to between 10 and 15 percent.

Uber however argues the price cut resulted in an uptake of rides by passengers ultimately leading to better earnings for drivers.

The US based firm has at the same time warned that it would not tolerate acts of violence and intimidation against its partner drivers.

“Partners involved in acts of intimidation towards others will be deactivated,” read a message from Uber to its drivers.

Nairobi has become awash with a number of taxi hailing companies such as Mondo Ride, Taxify and Safaricom’s Little.