Taxify is no more, say hi to Bolt

Taxify, the ride-hailing platform, was on Thursday rebranded in SA as Bolt, after five years in the local market.

Bolt currently provides its services in six African countries, the company said in a statement. It has plans to expand its offering in SA during the course of 2019.

The company said Bolt users will not need to take any action as the app will update automatically.

Taxify had been expanding to ensure operations in most major SA cities, most recently being launched in East London and Polokwane at the end of October. 

Last August, the Sunday Times reported that with South Africans increasingly paying more at the pumps, some were employing innovative methods to tackle their burgeoning fuel costs - moving closer to their workplaces, carpooling or ditching their cars for ride-hailing services such as Uber and Taxify.

Reuters reported last month that mobility services provided by the vehicle tech firms had prompted Daimler and BMW to launch a joint ride-hailing and parking business with pay-per-minute rates, amongst other offerings.