How to become an Uber or Bolt driver in Kenya, with or without your own car (2026)

You do not need to own a car to drive for Uber or Bolt in Kenya. Most drivers in Nairobi drive a car that belongs to someone else and pay the owner a daily amount. What you do need, car or no car, is the right licence and two documents from eCitizen. Here is what both apps ask for in 2026 and the order to get it in.

What you need, at a glance

Step 1: get your papers from eCitizen

Do these first. The apps will not activate you without them, and the good conduct certificate is the slow one.

Certificate of good conduct (police clearance). Apply on eCitizen under the DCI's Police Clearance Certificate service, choose a fingerprinting station, and pay KSh 1,050. It usually takes two to six weeks; the DCI sends an SMS when you can download it.

Get it fresh. Uber's Nairobi screening page says a police clearance certificate older than three months has to be renewed before screening.

PSV badge. This is NTSA's licence to drive paying passengers, and both apps require it. Apply on NTSA through eCitizen and pay KSh 1,050. Bolt says a new badge takes about five working days. You will need:

• a valid driving licence;
• your certificate of good conduct;
• a medical certificate from an NTSA-approved doctor;
• your National ID and KRA PIN;
• a passport photo;
• a PSV training course at an NTSA-approved driving school.

The badge has to be renewed every year.

Driving licence. If you still have an old licence, budget for the smart licence: Bolt's Kenya guide lists KSh 3,050 for a three-year smart driving licence and KSh 1,050 for a one-year renewal.

Step 2: sign up in the app

Uber. Sign up online with an email address and a smartphone, then upload: your PSV driving licence, National ID, KRA PIN certificate and a profile photo. Uber asks for original documents photographed clearly, not photocopies. In Nairobi and Mombasa you then attend a safety screening (a driving competency test and screening session; Uber does not pay for it) and a certification session. After that your account is activated.

Bolt. Register on Bolt's driver page with your city and licence type, then upload your National ID or passport, driving licence, police clearance certificate, PSV badge and a profile photo, plus the car's papers. Bolt also accepts a Peleza criminal check report in place of the DCI certificate.

You can sign up to both. Many drivers do, and switch to whichever app is busier.

Step 3: link a car

If it is your own car, it needs:

• PSV insurance, not private cover. Comprehensive PSV cover for a taxi costs about 4.5–7% of the car's value a year; third-party-only PSV starts from about KSh 7,574.
• An inspection. Bolt asks for an NTSA inspection report (from KSh 1,050). Uber inspects cars at its own centres. The Senate annulled NTSA's 2026 inspection rules in July 2026, but PSVs are still inspected.
• A year the app accepts. In 2026, Uber Chapchap takes cars from 2016 or newer, and Comfort and XXL from 2018 or newer. Bolt's sign-up page gives 2012 onwards as the minimum, with stricter rules per category in the app. Check a car with our can my car join Uber tool before you buy.

If it is someone else's car, the owner adds the car, and usually you, from their fleet account: FleetHub on Uber (it used to be called the Supplier Portal) or the Bolt Fleet portal. You still drive on your own account. Uber bans account sharing; never drive on the owner's or another driver's login.

Driving someone else's car: what to agree

Most owners charge a daily amount. There is no official rate; around KSh 1,500 a day for a small car in Nairobi is the figure most often reported (Business Daily, 2021), with newer and bigger cars higher. Usually you pay for fuel and the owner pays for insurance and major repairs, but it depends on the owner.

Before you take the keys, agree in writing:

• the amount and which days it is owed: "Monday to Saturday" is not the same as "every day";
• rest days and garage days, and whether you owe for a day the car is being repaired;
• who pays for what: fuel, service, tyres, fines, insurance excess after an accident;
• how you pay: into the owner's till, so every payment has a receipt;
• what happens if you fall behind.

Use our free driver agreement generator, or read the car owner and driver agreement guide for a template. Work out whether a daily amount is realistic with the daily amount calculator.

What you can earn

Bolt says its median driver in Kenya earned KSh 16,043 a week in June 2026, before the driver's own costs. Bolt's March 2026 report with Ipsos put average earnings at about KSh 63,000 a month. Neither figure deducts fuel or a daily amount, so treat them as a ceiling, not take-home pay.

From the fares, the app takes its commission. Uber and Bolt both charge 18% in Kenya, the cap set by NTSA's 2022 rules. The High Court suspended that cap in September 2026, so check the rate in your app.

Bolt pays weekly: its cycle runs Monday 00:00 to Sunday 23:59, and payouts follow. Uber limits driving to 12 hours online, after which the app takes you offline for 6 hours.

What it costs to start (without a car)

So the eCitizen fees come to KSh 2,100, or KSh 5,150 if you also need the smart licence, plus the medical, the course and a phone. With your own car, add PSV insurance, inspection and the car itself.

For car owners reading this

If you are on the other side, the owner, Gariboss keeps each driver's daily amount, marks rest and garage days as not owed, matches their payments into your own M-Pesa till, lets the driver see their running balance, and sends you a WhatsApp report each evening of who paid.