The e-hailing trend that took place yesterday and affected Bolt in both South Africa and Nigeria has forced the company to restrict inter-country ride requests between the two African countries. This comes after videos and screen shots of the trend started making the rounds on X with people requesting fake rides. It's alleged that the trend was started by South Africans pranking drivers and requesting rides as if they were in Nigeria, then cancelling the rides after keeping the drivers waiting for long.
TRENDING: South Africans have started a new trend, they have been requesting Bolt rides in Nigeria then Nigerian flathead Bolt drivers will go to the location where the ride was requested and find no one at the spot, this is a waste of their time and expensive petrol.
— PSAFLIVE (@PSAFLIVE) August 22, 2024
This trend… pic.twitter.com/sku7H2ufpI
INTER-COUNTRY REQUESTS RESTRICTED
In videos trending on social media, online users can be seen requesting rides and then mocking Bolt drivers after cancelling a ride they had ordered. On one screen grab, a South African requested a ride, and when the driver in Nigeria asked where exactly he was, he responded in Zulu and said he was at the popular shisanyama in downtown Joburg, KwaMai Mai. Nigerians have hit back at this behaviour by adopting the same tactics. They have also started requesting Bolt rides in South Africa from Nigeria, which has the same impact. This resulted in the e-hailing company restricting inter-country requests between the two countries.
ACCOUNTS BLOCKED
Bolt said in a statement that the company was aware of fake ride requests and had blocked users who had requested such rides on their platform. "Bolt is aware of the fake ride request incident between some people in Nigeria and South Africa. Following a thorough investigation and the implementation of enhanced security measures, we have addressed this issue swiftly by restricting inter-country ride requests," the company said. The company said they understand the situation has impacted drivers in both countries and that they are committed to ensuring a safe, reliable, and secure experience for all community members. "Those responsible for this malicious activity have been identified and held accountable by blocking them from the Bolt app," the statement said.
