On February 22, drivers of the ride-hailing app Bolt were striking against the planned increase in the commission fees. The following day, some of them were suspended from the app.
In March, Bolt is planning to increase its commission fees for drivers in Vilnius from 20% to 25% and from 10% to 15% or 20% in other Lithuanian cities. Angered by this, drivers from all over the country, who were using the app, decided to strike and not work on February 22.
Some of the striking drivers wanted to resume work on February 23, but could not do so because their accounts on the Bolt Driver app were blocked.
Karolis, whose name has been changed, not only protested the commission increase on February 22, but also encouraged other drivers to join the strike. He did this by using the Bolt passengers’ app to book a working driver and then contact him to inform him about the strike.
According to Andrius Pacevicius, the head of Bolt in Lithuania, some accounts were suspended because they were used to undermine the drivers who were not on strike by sending them to false locations, into the woods, or canceling orders.
“Our system automatically detects repeated acts of hooliganism and blocks such users. If we have evidence that one of the drivers is doing this, we block this person from accessing the platform,” Pacevicius said.
According to the head of Bolt, the company blocks such users to protect the interests of the vast majority of drivers and to ensure the smooth operation of the platform.
But according to Karolis, the problem was that “the Bolt app that was used to make the allegedly false orders was not blocked. Only the Bolt Driver account was blocked”.
“I wouldn’t make a big deal out of this situation if working with the Bolt app wasn’t my main source of income,” he added.
When asked about how he was identified if he made the orders with a different app, the man said that his phone number, with which he registered on both apps, could have been used.
According to Karolis, he tried to contact Bolt to clarify the situation, but had not received any reply yet.
“We have internal procedures and rules when assessing these cases. We also try to assess each case individually, taking into account all the circumstances. It means that the access may be renewed in the future,” Pacevicius said. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
