Bolt Blocks Fake Ride Requests In Nigeria And South Africa

Ride-hailing app Bolt has blocked an undisclosed number of accounts requesting fake rides and canceling them after a driver accepted.

The company has also restricted intercountry ride requests to curb a trend which has mostly involved Bolt users in Nigeria and South Africa.

On Thursday, several accounts on the social media posted screenshots of the trend where a Bolt user in either Nigeria or South Africa would request a ride in one of the countries and then cancel it after the driver accepted.

It is unclear what the motivations of the trend is beyond internet trolling.

“We understand the impact this situation has had on our driver-partners in Nigeria and South Africa. We are committed to ensuring a safe, reliable, and secure experience for all members of our community,” said Yahaya Mohammed, Bolt’s country manager Nigeria at Bolt.

“I drove from Cape Town to Stellenbosch to pick up a customer only to realise it was a fake request,” one Cape Town-based driver told TechCabal. “That’s almost 50km worth of fuel gone because of internet jokes.”

As Bolt does not reimburse drivers for the fuel spent on cancelled rides, some have resorted to refusing long-distance requests until the situation is addressed by Bolt.