Electric bike riders use Uber, Greenwheel in row over bonuses

Electric motorbike riders have moved to court, in a standoff with the American-based taxi-hailing company Uber B.V., over bonuses.

The group led by David Mokaya accused Uber’s subsidiary in Kenya, Uber Kenya Limited, of illegally allowing motorcycle supplier Greenwheel Electric Mobility Solution to allegedly access online wallets and deduct money.

Mokaya explained that Uber has been rewarding motorbike riders who make more than 75 trips Sh 2500 as a bonus.

However, he said that Uber does not remit the money after the completion of the trips. This sparked a commercial court case.

The court heard that on November 6, 2025, Greenwheel invited the riders to a meeting in their premises.

However, Mokaya stated that the meeting was pushed to November 11 as the owner was allegedly not available.

According to him, the second meeting did not yield anything.

Mokaya who sued alongside 31 other riders told the court that when they left, Greenwheel started seizing the motorcycles while Uber sent them emails that it had suspended their accounts, then terminated them.

“The first respondent went ahead to state that the petitioners herein were engaged in aggressive and violent conduct during the meeting," he said

Adding,"In the said communication, the first respondent unequivocally stated that the petitioners’ accounts had been terminated,”

He further alleged that Greenwheel then immobilized the motorcycles, saying that it had a right to repossess them because they had allegedly engaged in an unlawful and unruly demonstration.

According to Mokaya, there is no evidence to show they had demonstrated or were unruly.

“ To-date, the petitioners are indeed stranded seeking that their accounts have been terminated and the motorcycles have been immobilized since November 17,2025, and we are currently being repossessed," argued Mokaya.

"Importantly, the third respondent has not given any information about the monies paid during the pendency of the purchase agreement, and as such, the petitioners stand to lose the substantial investments made towards actualizing the ownership of motorcycles at the end of the lease agreement,” he added 

He said that all persons who attended the meeting could not access their accounts immediately they left.

According to him, Uber and Greenwheel had violated the riders’ rights by failing to provide evidence and by immobilizing the motorcycles together with deactivating their accounts.

He asserted that both companies condemned them unheard.

According to him, the two were allegedly reacting to the case filed before the commercial court in the guise of dealing with the alleged protests.

In the commercial court, the riders want the court to force Uber to give a detailed breakdown of the bonuses that each has earned. At the same time, they are seeking an order to force the taxi-hailing giant to disclose how much it has paid to Greenwheel under the hire purchase agreement.

“The petitioners duly made attempts to have the first and second respondents tender any evidence of their said planning and or participation in the demonstrations," stated Mokaya

Adding, "To date, the first and second respondents have not submitted any evidence to enable the petitioners’ appeal against the decision through the first respondent’s internal appeal mechanism,”

He said that the companies had also not issued them with notices before the termination or tendered any results of internal investigations against them, to date.

“This state of affairs has led to the infringement of the petitioners’ economic and consumer rights. The petitioners continue to suffer the effects of the arbitrary termination of accounts without any substantial facts or evidence," he argued 

Pointing out, "As such, it would seem that the respondents have undertaken to single out the petitioners for filing a matter against them in the High Court Commercial and Admiralty Division,”