Nigerian Bolt drivers may have lost a total of $1,320 to fake ride pranks, while their South African counterparts could have lost $7, 876 to the same pranks.
The pranks are believed to have been started by a South African Bolt user and Nigerian users joining the fray.
South Africans are believed to have started the pranks by booking rides in Nigeria and cancelling after the driver got to the pick-up location. Nigerians also retaliated by doing the same thing in South Africa.
Social media, especially X (formally Twitter), has been littered with videos and screenshots of Nigerians booking fake rides in South Africa. From making abnormal requests to booking rides to police stations, the prank finally got Bolt's attention.
On August 22, the ride-hailing company said it had blocked an unidentified number of accounts that have been involved in ordering fake rides.
However, the prank could have cost some Nigerian and South African drivers some money.
How much Bolt drivers could lose to fake ride pranks
While Bolt did not reveal the extent of the damage caused by the pranks, some back-of-the-envelope calculations by Techpoint Africa put the estimated losses to drivers from both countries at $9,196.
Last year, Bolt announced that, after seven years of operation, it had reached the 250th million ride in Nigeria. On average, this means Nigerians booked up to 57 million rides on the platform yearly, and 97,847 rides daily.
If only 1% (978) of these daily rides turned out to be a prank, Nigerian Bolt drivers could have lost a total of $1,320. We estimate that the average price of a ride is ₦2,127 ($1.35).
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Residents in Lagos, Bolt's biggest Nigerian city, travel an average distance of 10 kilometres per day. Assuming that you travel this distance on a Bolt ride without traffic at 40 miles an hour, you'll reach your destination in approximately 10 minutes and the ride will cost ₦2,127 ($1.35). This figure is based on Bolt's latest price in Lagos:
- Base fare ₦527
- Price per kilometre ₦130 (x10)
- Price per minute ₦23.3 (x10).
South African drivers, on the other hand, will lose R89.85 ($5) per ride because the average price per kilometre for rides in the country is R8.985 ($0.5). Like in Nigeria, South Africans also travel less than 25 kilometres a day. So if the average ride is also ten kilometres. And 1% of those rides were pranks- it will be a total loss of R139,806 ($7,876) for Bolt drivers in the country.
While these figures are speculative, the fake ride pranks will have cost the drivers time and petrol. The removal of fuel subsidies in Nigeria has increased the cost of doing business for the country's ride-hailing drivers. In response, they've asked the ride-hailing companies to increase their base fare.
While it is also unclear exactly how many drivers were affected, one driver reportedly "drove 50 km to pick up a customer only to realise it was a fake request.”
These pranks are an offshoot of a disagreement that happened because of a beauty pageant. At the beginning of the month, Chidimma Adetshina withdrew from the Miss South Africa pageant amid backlash caused by her heritage.
Despite being born in South Africa, Adetshina faced criticism due to her Nigerian father and Mozambican mother. Following her decision, a Nigerian pageant extended an invitation for her to join their competition, which she accepted.
This incident has caused tension between South Africans and Nigerians online. Unfortunately, unwitting Bolt riders have become pawns in the online war.
As of yesterday, there have been price surges in cities like Lagos, Cape Town, and Johannesburg. At some point, rides were no longer available.
The incident also raises questions about the possibility of booking rides across countries. In response, Bolt could geo-fence the app, and users will only be able to book rides in the country where they live. Some people argue this could have unfavourable consequences.
For example, an X user who was on vacation in another country posted that they were able to rescue a family member by booking a ride for them.
Not putting such restrictions could mean a reoccurrence of the Bolt Wars, which could make drivers lose money, while other people lose rides.
