Digital Technologies and the Changing Nature of Work in the e-Hailing Sector in Kenya

Kenya’s e-hailing sector was valued at $345 million in 2023 with an estimated employment level of 93,875 workers and 23 companies. This exploratory study aimed to document the status of legal recognition of the e-hailing workers, and the employment and labour relations in the sector. It relied on a survey of 387 e-hailing and non-e-hailing workers randomly sampled from Nairobi and Mombasa cities in Kenya. It found that the e-hailing sector is male dominated with women constituting only 13.2% of the sampled workers. The sector has a youthful workforce with a mean age of 34 years for e-hailing workers and 41 years for traditional taxi drivers. The e-hailing workers are free agents engaging in e-hailing work as the sector of choice. They own multiple applications to increase their client base and cushion themselves against arbitrary deactivations by the companies. The companies use upfront pricing mechanisms coupled with promotional pricing strategies, which often yield low fare rates, hence a constant source of conflict between the workers and the companies. Both the Employment Act (2022) and the National Transport and Safety Authority (Transport Network Companies, Owners, Drivers and Passengers) Regulations (2022) classify e-hailing workers as service providers and not employees, thus limiting them from advancing fundamental principles and rights at work. The workers also have limited access to social protection. The e-hailing companies also define themselves as intermediaries and not employers further absolving them from any labour rights obligations to the workers. Attainment of decent work in the e-hailing sector in Kenya calls for amendment of labour laws and regulations to entrench employment relationship between the workers and companies, and establishment of an inclusive framework for price modelling, grievance handling and promotion of access to social protection.