A taxi driver in Lebanon. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Bolt has stopped its motorcycle service in Lebanon in recent days "after having several meetings" with local authorities.
The ride-hailing company sent a notification on its app telling users that from Sept. 11 the motorcycle, which was often cheaper than using Bolt's "economy cars," will be discontinued.
A spokesperson for Bolt told L'Orient Today that it "will continue to offer our other licensed taxis … and affordable rides for our riders in Lebanon."
Update notification on the Bolt app, Sept. 11 2023. (Credit: Screenshot/Bolt)
Pressure from taxi drivers' unions
The change comes after complaints by some car drivers that Bolt's motorcycle drivers were "taking their place." Darwich Taha, head of a committee of smart app drivers, told L'Orient Today that their demand to the Interior Ministry to stop Bolt's Moto category had been met after previous complaints.
"We raised a complaint and the Interior and Transportation ministries answered it," said Taha. "This is our right as public drivers. It's not appropriate that motorbikes are allowed to be an alternative to us and take our customers … we did not want motorbikes to enter our line of work."
L'Orient Today had not received a response from the Interior Ministry by the time of publication.
Motorcycle drivers in Beirut, June 2023. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
On May 8, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi asked the Telecoms Ministry to suspend Bolt's operations until it could confirm whether or not Bolt was breaking any laws, after complaints by unions of public taxi drivers that drivers with unregistered vehicles were using the app. However, Mawlawi's request was never implemented.
In the past, taxi drivers' unions have complained that Bolt allows drivers to register with a standard driver's license and registration plate, as opposed to the public driver's license and red plates required by law. Bolt has insisted it is fully compliant with Lebanese law.
Khaled Sharab is a driver who worked with Bolt Moto until Monday. He expressed his anger 0ver the company’s decision, saying that he came to know about the discontinuation of the motorcycle service only a few days earlier. He told L’Orient Today that the decision hugely affected him.
