Durban - South African e-hailing service provider, Bolt, said it had launched a probe into an incident where a Durban passenger was allegedly assaulted and robbed by a driver last month.
Takura Malaba, country manager for Bolt SA, told IOL that the driver had been blocked from the platform.
It was established that, at the time of the incident, the registered driver and the person driving the car were not the same people.
Renting a profile to someone or from someone constitutes an act of fraud, and should the investigation prove those involved were guilty of such, a charge of fraud would be laid against them, Malaba said.
“Bolt is aware of the incident that took place last month in Durban, in which further investigation is under way.
“Bolt can confirm that the driver has been blocked from the platform. Bolt has reached out to the passenger to offer support and we have provided details of our insurance cover underwritten by Oaksure Financial Services that provides for emergency medical expenses, trauma counselling, permanent disability and accidental death caused by an accident and/or crime while on a Bolt trip.
“Bolt specifically prohibits drivers from authorising any other person to use their Bolt Driver Account in any way whatsoever, including renting profiles to any other person. Any driver found to be renting their profile to any other party, or allowing any unauthorised person to use their profile for any reason, will be removed from the platform permanently,” Malaba said.
According to the victim, Dean Moodley, the person driving the car on the evening of June 14 was not the same as the person who appeared on the profile, indicating that the registered owner may have hired out his profile.
What was initially set to be a seven-minute journey from St Thomas Road to Earl Haig Road in Musgrave, Durban, turned out to be a traumatic incident for Moodley.
He claimed that he jumped into the car and after a few minutes, realised that he had forgotten something and asked the driver to turn the car around.
After retrieving his items from where he was picked up, Moodley returned to the car when an argument ensued over the amount that was owed because of the delay in the original trip.
Moodley said he was willing to pay double the trip cost, which was R24, but the driver of the Hyundai Accent demanded R100.
“I got out the car and the registration was different from the app and the driver was not the same. He said he drives for the original owner, who gives him jobs to drive. I tried taking a picture of the number plate of the car as it was different from the app. He then grabbed my cellphone and took it, and I tried to get it back from him. That’s when he assaulted me, punched me and dropped me to ground and injured my hand and broke my finger,” he said.
Shortly after receiving the alleged beating, he opened a case at the Berea policing precinct.
“The complainant alleged that on June 14 at 21:15, he had an argument with an e-hailing driver. The driver assaulted him, stole his money and bank cards. Charges of theft and common assault were opened at Berea police station for investigation. The docket was taken to a senior public prosecutor on June 27 for a decision,” said KZN spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala.
The name of the registered driver was also given to IOL and we have since contacted the driver to ask him about the incident. We are awaiting his response.
IOL is also in possession of the insurance documents which Moodley used to make a claim against the company for the injuries he sustained during the incident.
The insured driver’s name is also on the said document.
IOL