Uber rival Bolt faces lawsuit over Workers’ Rights
The transport company that is bidding in London to topple Uber is facing legal action over the minimum wage claim, a move that is also intended to compel the company to provide drivers with workers’ rights.
Andrei Donisa has sued Bolt after he expelled him from his platform for refusing to take many services.
Bolt treats his 30,000 drivers as self-employed, and Donisa claims that their behavior is contrary to her claim to have “high ethical principles.”
Bolt, which was incorporated in Estonia, launched in the UK capital last summer after Uber was stripped of its license by Transport for London in November because drivers had falsified their identity on the company’s app.
Uber continues to operate as it appealed court ruling
It is also contesting a separate appeals court ruling in which its drivers must be treated as employees rather than freelancers.
Donisa said Bolt prevented her from using the app because her acceptance rate for travel was too low despite the fact that there were no agreed minimum hours with the company.
He said he would only reject jobs that were too short and too far to warrant the trip or when the customer was rated too low, suggesting it could be a security risk.
“Bolt is ethical, but when it comes to driver’s rights, he’s worse than Uber,” said Donisa. “We do not receive sick pay, vacations, or guaranteed minimum wages. The only right they claim to give us is the right to choose how we work and when I exercised that right, I was punished and fired by Bolt. ”
Donisa’s lawsuit in the labor court is backed by the British Independent Workers Union. He previously won worker status cases with members who work for companies like Addison Lee and Uber.
Bolt operates a system that penalizes drivers who accept less than 50% of the rates offered to them, with repeated infractions that attract longer prohibitions ranging from 24 hours to 10 years.
The Donisa lawsuit argues that Bolt “highly controlled” his drivers
You know where drivers are when they log in, decide what jobs to offer them, and control how long they drive. It also sets the rate and handles the money.
He said he normally made £ 160 a week on Bolt, which added Uber’s £ 580 profit. He increased his expenses by £ 330, so he claims he was paid less than the £ 8.21 hourly minimum wage.
Uber rival Bolt faces lawsuit over Workers’ Rights
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