Charis Chrisna
TechInAfrica – On-demand transportation apps have become a part of our everyday life, even outside Africa in various continents and regions where mobility is emphasized for millennials who’s always on the move. Particularly for those who does not own a vehicle to commute daily, services similar to Uber serves as a potential alternative for them to get to places. These services range from car rentals, carpools, to car sharing and on-demand motorcycle taxis, all in the palm of our hands. More often than not they’re cheaper—and faster—than hailing a regular cab, and that’s why citizens love them so much.
You may have seen our previous story regarding Taxify and its feat of securing an investment round of about $175 million. Now, renaming itself to Bolt, the Estonian on-demand ride-hailing startup has introduced Bolt for Business. This innovative concept is designed exclusively for companies, corporates, and businesses alike as a medium for employees and clients to hail rides at the company’s expense and skip individual cost reporting. Of course, users—which means drivers and customers—would have to consent to Bolt for Business’ terms of agreement before eventually making use of the convenience.
In addition, managers and executives of companies can monitor their employees’ business-related trips, as well as the price needed for each trip. This, in return, would give employers the idea to estimate and consider the company’s budget to be allocated for the referred matter.
On their official YouTube channel, Bolt has also offered us a video on how their new business portal works. Check out the video below:
Bolt for Business was concepted when Gareth Taylor, country manager for South Africa saw that most Bolt trips during business hours are taken for company purposes—commuting to work, meeting up with clients, or even administration and public relation issues which require employees to get from one place to the other.
Bolt for Business is now available 12 cities in South Africa, particularly in Cape Town, Durban, East London, Garden Route, Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Potchefstroom, Pretoria, and Rustenburg. Furthermore, it is also available in Accra (Ghana), Kampala (Uganda), and Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Mwanza (Tanzania). It is more than likely Bolt will expand larger, reaching more areas as they do.
The ride-hailing platform is able to be accessed on desktop and mobile. Essentially, this branch of service is devised for companies—and its employees—to save time and money by letting executives know all about the company’s trip in a single platform. For the payment, the company can transfer the appropriate amount expensed for trips accumulated once per month. This method is more efficient and effective instead of paying for each single company trips, which in return could potentially be confusing.
Considering Bolt for Business is still in its early stage of launch, it is rumored that various new features will be added later this year. Such features include adding restrictions to specific times and/or locations to hail a ride, or even a prepaid payment method.
For more information, feel free to check out Bolt for Business’ official web page.
