Bolt launches optional rider verification in Nigeria, 10 months after initial announcement

Leading ride-hailing company in Africa, Bolt, has launched a rider verification feature for users in Nigeria. The company announced this in a statement seen by Technext. According to the statement, the feature will give customers in Nigeria to verify themselves.

This development, the company says, is part of its ongoing investment in safety features on its platform. The app company, therefore, expects the features to enhance driver-rider trust and offer drivers more reasons to pick up an order. This will in turn translate to an overall faster, more efficient experience for riders.

Speaking about the development, Bolt’s Regional Manager of North and West Africa, Lola Masha, said the feature, which is one of the demands by drivers, represents mutual trust between drivers and their passengers.

“Being able to verify that riders are who they say they are is the number one feature requested by driver-partners in Nigeria. The launch of rider verification is an acknowledgement of the importance of mutual trust between driver partners and riders. With increased investment in verification features like this that consider the trip as a whole, we aim to continue building driver and rider trust, which is critical to the safety of the platform,” she said.

Bolt’s rider verification coming 10 months after initial announcement

Bolt’s rider verification is coming at a time when drivers are clamouring for more stringent safety standards by the app companies. Many drivers have constantly wondered why it was mandatory for drivers to undergo thorough verification as part of their onboarding process only for riders to be denied the same.

Many drivers believe this lack of verification for riders has led to a serious deficit in drivers’ ability to know their riders. This has, in turn, exposed them to harm and other security threats like robbery, kidnapping and indeed death. Thus, the company’s verification feature ought to provide some form of relief.

But unlike the driver verification feature which is mandatory for drivers, verification for riders is optional. This optionality has the ability to defeat the very purpose for which the drivers have been calling for the feature because no bad actors with nefarious plans will choose to be verified.

This reporter reached out to the company to find out why the rider verification was made optional instead of mandatory. In its response, the company said this was more of a testing phase to see how the riders would react to it.

“As with every feature, we’ll be keeping a close eye on how our customers respond to the option to verify themselves on the platform and make decisions on how we evolve the feature in the future, including whether this becomes a requirement for placing a ride-hailing order,” a company representative said.

In November 2023, Bolt Country Manager, Yahaya Mohammed, at a media parley held at the company’s new office and Driver Engagement Centre in Lagos, announced that it will be launching NIN verification system for riders come 2024.

The Country Manager’s announcement was reechoed by the Senior Public Policy Manager for West Africa, North Africa and Central Africa, Weyinmi Aghadiuno. Aghadiuno noted that the company has its Data Processing Officers (DPO) as well as its Data Protection Certificate issued by NITDA and as such is perfectly able to guarantee data protection and privacy.

“We are going to be crosschecking just to ensure that this number actually matches the user so that we are certain about who is being carried in the car. So, if there is any issue, we can now provide robust information to the police for any interrogation they may want to carry out,” she said.

See also: Bolt Nigeria to launch NIN verification for riders, selfie verification for drivers in 2024

Riders who choose to be verified will be given the option to take a selfie before they are able to place a ride-hailing order. For the selfie to be valid, it needs to be an authentic picture of a physically present person, with the face clearly visible.

The rider will also need to upload an identification document, which Bolt will check against the selfie. The validation process takes from a few seconds to a couple of minutes and requires the latest version of the app to use.