Can we do offline?
This is the most dubious and dangerous question in the app taxi business. Bolt drivers,Uber drivers and other app taxi drivers ask this questions when they want to shortchange the app company. However,apart from short changing the app company, it generally puts the passenger’s life at great risk. This is why everyone should jump and pass when a driver initiates offline rides.
The Lagos Mail has researched the dangers in getting involved in offline rides for the benefit of the readers of the Lagos Mail and users of app taxis.
The most important advantage that came with app taxis for passengers is safety while for the driver,it is the receipt of another request immediately a passenger is dropped.
Unfortunately,for some reasons ,some unscrupulous drivers have introduced offline services and that is not good for passengers for the reasons below.
- Safety – Personal safety is the number 1 reason why you should avoid offline rides with app taxis. If you get lost or kidnapped, investigations will find out that you booked and boarded a taxi but if you do offline,you may never be traced. On safety,you can also share details of your ride with someone who will track your movement.
2. Security– A police man stopped a car with one passenger. On searching the car,he discovered an incriminating material in the booth of the car which the driver was delivering to someone .He arrested the two people in the car. The passenger at the time of the arrest was on an offline ride but since he couldn’t prove that he was just a passenger,he is being tried in Lagos for a crime he didn’t know about. If he had booked the ride online,that would have saved him all the stress by providing the evidence that he was indeed a passenger.
3. Alibi– Lawyers said that one’s ride history can be used to prove alibi. To prove that you were somewhere else when something happened.
In the course of an investigation of a robbery in Portharcourt,the CCTV footage showed the image of a man many people thought they recognised. When he was arrested, he claimed that he wasn’t in Portharcourt at the time of the robbery,among other things,his bolt ride history showed that he was in Lagos at the time of the robbery. There are many instances where people’s ride history have been used to prove that they were somewhere else when an event they are being accused of happened.
4. Safety of belonging: It is usual for passengers to forget their belongings in taxis and buses. If you forget your belongings in a bolt taxi, you can easily make a complaint and your belonging will be returned. If you do offline,you lose your right to make a complaint to the app company because there will not be any evidence that you boarded a ride at all.The driver can also claim that you never used his services especially if you paid cash.
5. Customer service:When a driver doesn’t treat you well in the course of a ride or when he fails to adhere to traffic rules,you can register a complaint with the app taxi. However,if you are on an offline trip,you are at the mercy of the drivers because they are not usually bound by the rules and regulations of the app company. They are only bound by the rules when you are on a booked ride . Drivers tend to drive more recklessly when you are on an offline ride. They are less likely to be courteous e.g when they see a traffic jam,they can even push you out of the car if they don’t want to proceed but if you are online,they will be forced to take you your destination.
Generally speaking,it’s always good to avoid offline rides.It is dangerous.
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