The High Court has quashed decision of a tribunal to order ride-hailing service operator, Bolt, to compensate one of its drivers Sh1 million for deactivation of his account, which rendered him jobless.
Justice Roseline Aburili said the Transport Licensing Appeals Board, lacked authority to determine the dispute filed by the driver-Kennedy Mbugua.
The judge said the dispute should have been handled by the National Safety and Transport Authority (NTSA) first, before escalating to the appeals board.
"I find and hold that the appeals board had no jurisdiction to hear and determine complaints raised by Mr Mbugua. Those complaints should have been raised first before NTSA, ... which could have made a decision capable of being appealed to the appeals board," said the judge quashing the appeal's board ruling dated October 31, 2023.
Mr Mbugua sued Bolt at the appeal's board in May 2023, over his dismissal from the online platform.
He was also aggrieved by the decision of the NTSA to license Bolt as a transport network service provider, having not met or breached the requirements set out in the NTSA (Transport Network Companies, Owners, Drivers and Passengers) Regulations, 2022.
The cab driver in the appeal, complained that NTSA had licensed Bolt to operate, yet it had deactivated his account and had no registered office in Kenya. He explained that the company prevented him from working for 168 days from May 15 to October 31, 2023 following the deactivation of his account in the online platform.
The tribunal found Bolt culpable and ordered it to the pay damages in the sum of Sh1,008,000, being the earnings he would have made for the 168 days he was out of employment at a rate of Sh6,000 per day. It was that decision that Bolt moved to court to challenge.
Justice Aburili reversed the decision and held that the appeal's board lacked authority to directly hear complaints or make first-instance decisions on transport licensing matters.
