Uber, Bolt set to resume services in Tanzania

What you need to know:

  • Uber and Bolt were forced to suspend services in Tanzania following the government’s regulatory changes that were enforced effectively from March, 2022

Arusha. After weeks of controversy over the fate on ride-hailing companies Uber and Bolt are set to resume services in Tanzania, the government has announced.

The companies were forced to suspend services in Tanzania following the government’s regulatory changes that were enforced effectively from March, 2022.

While Uber suspended their services in March, Bolt decided to switch to only to corporate clients, however,  the service was only available for tricycle ‘Bajaj’ and motorcycles.

The resumption of services was announced on September 12, with the director general by  the Land Transport Regulatory Authority (Latra), Mr Habibu Suluo while addressing the media in Arusha.

The government met the companies after they raised some complaints and solved the challenges and agreed to resume services, according to Mr Suluo.

"Uber suspended their operations after Latra's announcement of online fares and e-ticketing system that directed them to charge legal fees with an executive order to be obeyed and filed a case at the competition council to challenge our decisions," he said.
He added: However, Bolt continued to provide the service but later they submitted a report saying are suspending their services but we called them so that we can discuss since we believed we can reach an agreement through dialogue.

During their meeting held from September 5-6, this year Uber and Bolt brought their Africa’s representative and the two parties agreed to resume services.

“There is report we are waiting that the company should bring in written document to make decisions and today is the deadline we agreed upon and we will make decisions that will help all of them including the Tanzania Online Drivers Association (TODA),” he said.