DISGUISED PIRACY
Botswana Kombi and Taxi Association has complained to the Department of Road Transport and Safety (DRTS) that indrive, an online controlled transportation service, is robbing them of business.
Indrive is an E-hailing service where passengers can download an App into their phones, register their names and contacts, give out their location, destination and lastly suggest an amount they can pay for service.
Available drivers are then given an opportunity to negotiate the offered amount, decline or agree to offer service requested.
If an agreement is reached, the driver reaches out by calling the client and just like that, passengers will be taken to their destinations and at the end of their trip, the passenger is asked to leave a comment on the App about their experience with the driver.
Edson Tlhomelang who is chairperson of the Kombi and Taxi Association told The Midweek Sun that they have observed how indrive is fast gaining popularity in Gaborone, as more people are shifting towards the service mainly because they can negotiate prices compared to service provided by licensed and regulated public transport.
“We have told DRTS about indrive, those people should be removed from the road because the transport industry is congested already. This is why DRTS is no longer issuing permits. They promised to look into the matter,” he said.
He said it is not fair that they are regulated, go through regular vehicle inspection, subjected to standard fares and pay for renewal of permits while some drivers are escaping all charges but active in business.
Tlhomelang described indrive as ‘shocking piracy’ done online. He found it disturbing that many are flocking to the App based service, saying if something is not done soon, the public transport business will collapse to the hands of an unregulated business.
He expressed hope that DRTS will soon put an end to indrive as they have heard rumours that some men have been tracked down and are getting questioned.
“It is tricky with indrive because nobody here knows who owns it. It is a deliberate thing but strange because some drivers have branded their cars advertising it. But when questioned they cannot tell with confidence who they are working for.
“We have heard that indrive once had offices in Commerce Park in Gaborone, then moved to Mogoditshane but are nowhere to be seen now,” Tlhomelang said.
DRTS Deputy Director, Edwin Tlhogo confirmed having heard about indrive, saying they busy doing investigations on it. “At this stage we cannot really say much on what we are doing, lest we blow our cover, we will talk once we are ready,” Tlhogo said.
Deputy police spokesperson, Near Bagali said the police have not received complaints about indrive, however, they advise all Batswana who use the service to be very careful not to find themselves being victims of crime.
“We do not have much information about it but it can be a very risky service especially if passengers do not know who they can report to. The ideal thing is to establish who the owners of the business are so that they can be held accountable when things go wrong.
“We are already grappling with high numbers of murder and rape cases in the country, we might see numbers increasing if passengers are not careful. It is advisable to use known means of public transport such as cabs and taxis,” he advised.
Bagali said even drivers are at risk because they can be targeted by people they assume are clients.
He said since the police don’t know anything about indrive, those providing the service are likely to be charged for pirating at road blocks. “The law is that people should only board vehicles permitted to be carrying passengers,” Bagali said.
The indrive model is similar to the Uber and Bolt’s found in neighbouring country South Africa. Recently, there have been reports suggesting that E-hailing drivers are under attack in South Africa so much that they are even calling for government to intervene.
Local taxi associations in South Africa are not happy with E-hailing service providers and have even banned them from operating in some parts of the country. Suspicion is that the unhappy public transport operators might have a hand in the recent robberies, hijackings and killings that are seemingly targeting E-hailing service providers.
In 2020, South Africa parliament passed the National Land Transport Amendment Bill that sought to make E-hailing companies introduce vetting procedures that will ensure drivers and passengers do not participate in criminal acts while using e-hailing apps.
It was also to ensure that the service providers do not escape relevant transport regulations. However, the bill has not been made into a law yet.