Bolt South Africa launches new centre in Johannesburg for Driver Support and Expansion

Bolt South Africa has reportedly launched a physical driver engagement center in Randburg, Johannesburg, to enhance relations with its drivers and address their concerns. Until now, most of the communication between the company and drivers primarily occurred within the app or through the contact center.

This newly established center, available by appointment, serves as a comprehensive hub for drivers, offering support, issue resolution, training, communication channels, community building, driver appreciation, and branding. It will also function as a Lost and Found center for passengers to retrieve forgotten items left in Bolt vehicles, ITWeb notes.

This initiative is part of Bolt’s commitment to invest €500 million in its African operations, aimed at expanding and providing better support to its services. The fund will be used to scale up the operations of the Estonia-headquartered company in Africa while creating opportunities for over 300,000 new drivers and couriers to join the platform in 2023.

Bolt recognises that drivers are pivotal to its business and is dedicated to their success and income growth. To further this commitment, the company is also in the process of hiring a community specialist in South Africa, tasked with coordinating and executing driver engagement programs in collaboration with local operations teams across various driver engagement channels.

Over the years, e-hailing drivers and operators in South Africa have voiced their concerns through protests, urging the introduction of a regulatory framework to improve working conditions, safety, and wages within the industry. Communication gaps between drivers, e-hailing companies, and the transport department have also been a recurring issue.

Bolt is actively working to enhance the overall driver experience and provide the necessary support for drivers to thrive in their businesses. The company is committed to implementing feedback received from drivers to continually improve its services.

Earlier, Bolt had partnered with the Automobile Association (AA) to provide drivers with an integrated emergency response service through the app, offering enhanced safety and support. This service shares the driver’s details and location with AA’s 24/7 contact center, promptly deploying private security and emergency services when activated.

Furthermore, drivers have access to free trauma counseling through Bolt’s service provider, Oaksure, following any traumatic incident experienced while using the platform. Through its partnership with TeleDoctor in August, they can also have up to six free consultations annually with healthcare professionals. This collaboration allows drivers to connect with healthcare practitioners through a telehealth platform, providing convenient access to healthcare services without the need for in-person visits to a doctor’s office.

Bolt continues to work on enhancing driver conditions, safety, and communication channels in the e-hailing industry.