What High Court ruling on Uber, Bolt and other ride-hailing taxi mean for Kenya’s consumers

18% commission cap struck down — The court blocked enforcement of the 2022 rule capping ride-hailing platform commissions at 18% of trip earnings, a win for Uber, Bolt, and other operators (petition brought by Bolt Operations OU). Data retention/surveillance rules also blocked — NTSA can no longer force platforms to retain detailed passenger/driver data for 3 years and hand it over on demand; the court found this violated the right to privacy (Article 31) and the Data Protection Act, 2019, amounting to unconstitutional continuous surveillance. Not an immediate free-for-all — The regulations aren’t nullified outright. The court suspended its declaration of invalidity for 12 months, giving government time to fix the process. Why it was struck down — Key reasons: no regulatory impact assessment or economic justification for the price cap, no empirical evidence of necessity, and the rules were gazetted while Parliament was in recess, bypassing required legislative scrutiny. Government’s homework — Within 12 months, the state must conduct a proper regulatory impact assessment and re-align the regulations with the Constitution and enabling law, or the rules lapse entirely. Other operational rules stay in force meanwhile — Safety standards, driver verification checks, and similar provisions remain enforceable during the suspension period, since immediate nullification was seen as destabilizing for the sector.

County vs. national roles clarified — NTSA can license platforms operating across counties, but counties retain authority over local transport services (taxis, parking), while national government handles safety standards and cross-county policy.

In brief and for now, commissions aren’t capped at 18%, and platforms don’t have to comply with the 3-year data retention/surrender requirement — but this could change if government redoes the process within the year