Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has officially launched YEGO digital taxi operations in Kenya, a new entrant in the online ride-hailing sector.
Speaking at the launch event on Friday, Murkomen said that the Transport Network Companies (Owners, Drivers and Passengers) Regulations, 2022, which is meant to guide operations of the digital taxi hailing sector, is already in force, having been Gazetted on 22 June 2022 and approved by Parliament in February this year.
“The Regulations will shield drivers from exploitation by setting the maximum amount of commission paid by the driver or owner of the taxi at 18% per total earnings per trip. Additionally, in compliance with the regulations, every company before being licenced to be a registered company, must now be tax compliant, be registered by the Data Commissioner and have a physical office in Kenya, while the driver of the vehicle must hold a PSV licence and subscribe to transport network services,” he said.
Murkomen added that it is now mandatory for digital taxi hailing companies to follow set regulations on subscription, activation and deactivation of service, a move that is aimed at preventing cases of termination of drivers’ services without notice.
The CS expressed his satisfaction with YEGO’s driver-friendly policies which are in line with Kenya Kwanza’s bottom-up economic model of uplifting hustlers in the country.
“YEGO’s approach will see drivers go home with 88% of their earnings (as the company takes 12%), to be made 60 seconds after a trip ends. The company also caters for their drivers’ NHIF costs and has insured them against personal accidents. Further, 10% of the annual dividend from the drivers goes to YEGO Sacco as an effort to secure their future, with their savings enabling them to get access to car financing,” he said.
He congratulated YEGO CEO Karanvir Singh and his team on the auspicious launch and wished them all the best in their operations in Kenya.
YEGO is a digital taxi hailing company that operates in Rwanda and Uganda and has now expanded to Kenya. The company claims to offer affordable and reliable rides to customers and better incentives to drivers.