🟥 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐛 𝐀𝐩𝐩 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐭 (𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐟𝐲), 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐬

Not been great news this week for Taxi Trade News:

First we heard that Uber was interested in opening its app to licensed Taxi driver…which was closely followed by the announcement from Bolt, they were opening up their app to green badge drivers (but not yellow badges) 

Minicab app Bolt (formally Taxify founded by Markus Villig in 2013) Taking On Licensed Taxis:

Bolt has now opened its platform to Licensed Taxis, making it FreeNow2. 

Unable to obtain a TfL PH operators licence under the name Taxify, they changed the name to Bolt, and were granted their first two and a half licence in 2017. 

Bolt in the UK mainly operates within London (the M25 area) plus, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. London airports (Stansted, Luton, Southend-on-Sea and Gatwick).

Originally from Estonia, they currently operate their micro-mobility, car-sharing, and food delivery services in over 500 cities in more than 45 countries in Europe, Africa, Western Asia and Latin America.

It appears cabbies are signing up to the app as the Taxi trade sleepwalks into a one-tier service, the end goal of the infamous Project Horizon.

They appear to be only taking Green badges onto the platform, as they regard Yellow badges as not qualified enough to work their app!

Wonder if the garages will be complacent and put Bolt liveries on their rentals?

Then in 2021, Sir Mike Rake joined ex director of Taxis and Private Hire Leon Daniels as a non executive board member on Ola.

This whole issue stinks of collusion.

Now comes the news most of us have been expecting:

Gett and FreeNow To Form A Partnership, To Facilitate Gett’s Business Customers Access To FreeNows 20,000 Private Hire Drivers.