Zimbabwe’s draft inDrive, Bolt rules: drivers 21+, ZINARA fee per trip, no cars over 10 years, daily face scans

The Ministry of Transport has published draft regulations for e-hailing services like inDrive, Bolt and Tap & Go. They’re open for public comment, so if you drive, ride or run a platform, now is the time to speak.

A quick bit of history first. Ride-hailing isn’t new here. Hwindi launched more than 10 years ago. Vaya followed. The real boom came with the international players. inDrive arrived in March 2023 with its name-your-price model. Bolt came in February 2024. Then in June 2025, Presidential Investment Advisor Paul Tungwarara unveiled Tap & Go.

The trouble was that the law never caught up. In August this year, Harare City Council stepped up its crackdown, with drivers saying municipal police were posing as passengers, then arresting and fining them. Mayor Jacob Mafume admitted there was a legal gap in how e-hailing is handled in Harare and across Zimbabwe, and said the city was drafting a policy so council could collect revenue from e-hailing drivers.

Government stepped in. On 8 September Cabinet approved a five-month transition period and told the Ministry of Transport to write regulations through consultation and by comparing notes with other countries. This draft is the result.

So what does it say? Platforms, car owners, drivers and passengers all get new rules. Here are the main ones:

• inDrive, Bolt and them will need a local office.

  A three-year accreditation from the Ministry, a local company or local representative, and a physical office in Zimbabwe. All along I assumed inDrive and Bolt had local offices.

• You’d need to be at least 21, have held your licence for five years, and have a defensive driving certificate and a medical certificate.

• No car older than 10 years.

  Cars also need an e-hailing endorsement, a windscreen disc and passenger insurance.

• A face scan every day.

  Drivers would verify their face before going online, and again at intervals of up to 12 hours.

• Your ID for cash or late rides.

  Passengers register with a phone number in their name, and need their ID or passport number to pay cash or ride between 9pm and 5am.

• No accounts for under-18s.

  Teenagers could only ride on a trip booked by an adult.

• A 24-hour safety centre.

  Platforms must run one in Zimbabwe and alert police within 15 minutes of an SOS.

• Your trips stored for six years, in Zimbabwe.

  Full trip data, including routes, with a copy on local servers.

• Police access without a warrant in emergencies.

  An officer of Inspector rank or above could request trip data for urgent cases, as long as it is reported afterwards.

• No tax clearance, no work.

  A car can’t go live without a ZIMRA tax clearance, and platforms must switch off a driver within 24 hours of a notice from ZIMRA or ZINARA.

• A charge on every trip.

  A road user charge, paid to ZINARA, deducted from each fare.

• Caps on surge pricing and commission.

  Surge is capped at double the normal fare, commission at 18 percent, and drivers must be paid within seven days.

• Councils can’t demand their own licence

• Advertising unaccredited apps would be illegal.

  That includes promoting them anywhere in Zimbabwe.

• Cars can be impounded.

  Officers could detain a vehicle for up to 30 days, and each day an offence continues counts as a new offence.

How does this compare to other countries? South Africa took the law-change route. Its National Land Transport Amendment Act made operating licences compulsory for e-hailing drivers, and it took 13 years to become law. Kenya is where our 18 percent cap comes from. Kenya capped commission at 18 percent per trip, but its High Court later declared key parts of those rules unconstitutional and blocked enforcement of the cap after a challenge by Bolt. Something for our drafters to think about.

Want to comment? Send your feedback to [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]. (eish government with these yahoo and gmail address 😭) The Ministry’s post on X also has a QR code linking to the full draft. Many figures in the draft are still in square brackets, which means they’re genuinely up for debate.

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