Uber driver and car owner agreement in Kenya: a free template

Most arrangements between a car owner and an Uber or Bolt driver in Kenya start with a handshake and a number: "you bring me fifteen hundred a day." It works until the first garage week, the first speeding fine, or the first Monday he says he will pay on Friday.

Then nobody can agree what was agreed.

A written agreement does not stop a bad driver. What it does is settle, before anything goes wrong, the questions that otherwise turn into arguments: which days are owed, who pays for what, and what happens when he falls behind. This guide walks through what to put in it, and gives you a template to copy at the end.

This is a practical template, not legal advice. For a large fleet, or a hire-purchase (work-and-own) deal, have an advocate look it over.

1. The car, and who owns it

Start with the facts that identify everything else:

• The vehicle — make, model, registration number, and the platform categories it runs on (Chapchap, Comfort, Bolt, Little).
• The owner — full name, ID number, phone, and the M-Pesa till or paybill the money goes to.
• The driver — full name, ID number, phone, PSV badge number and driving licence number.
• The start date, and the condition of the car on that day: mileage, spare tyre, jack, any existing dents. Take dated photos on handover and send them to him on WhatsApp so you both have them.

2. The daily amount, and which days it is due

This is the clause that matters most, and the one most often left vague.

Write the amount (for example KSh 1,500), and write which days it is owed. "Monday to Saturday" is different from "every day", and a driver who thinks Sunday is his and an owner who thinks it is owed will fight about it every week.

Then write the days that are not owed:

• Rest day(s) — say which, or how many per week.
• Garage days — when the car is in for a repair that is not the driver's fault, he cannot earn, so he should not owe.
• Days the car is off the road because of the owner — expired insurance, a failed inspection, a car you took back for your own use.

Finally, say by when each day must be paid (for example, by 10pm the same day, or by noon the next day) and how: to your till number, never cash handed to someone else. A till receipt is a record; cash to "my cousin at the stage" is not.

3. Who pays for what

Write every cost down, with a name next to it. The common split in Nairobi:

If the driver pays for something that is yours (he buys a tyre on the road), say how it comes back to him: deducted from the next day's amount, with the receipt. Settle this in writing and you avoid the most common argument of all — "I spent that money on the car."

4. When he falls behind

Decide the rule while you are both calm:

• How many unpaid days before you call him in (two is common).
• How many before the car comes back to you.
• Whether a shortfall carries forward (it should — and both of you should be able to see the running total).

Be specific. "If the daily is unpaid for two days in a row, the owner may take the car back until the balance is cleared" is a rule. "The driver must be responsible" is not.

5. Accidents, the police, and the insurer

• He must report any accident to you within a set time (for example, two hours) and to the police as the law requires.
• Who pays the insurance excess when the accident is his fault.
• He must not hand the car to another driver. Your insurance and the platform both expect the named driver behind the wheel.

6. How it ends

Either side should be able to end it with notice (for example, seven days). On the last day:

• The car comes back washed, with the same accessories it left with.
• You settle the balance — what he owes, less anything you owe him.
• He removes the car from his Uber and Bolt accounts, or you do it from your fleet account.

The template

Copy this, fill in the brackets, print two copies, and both sign every page. Or fill it in on the agreement generator and print it from there.

CAR HIRE AGREEMENT

Made on [date] between:
Owner:  [full name], ID [number], phone [number]
Driver: [full name], ID [number], phone [number],
        PSV badge [number], licence [number]

1. THE VEHICLE
   [Make and model], registration [KXX 000X], mileage at handover [km].
   Handed over with: spare tyre, jack, [other items].
   Condition photos sent to the driver on WhatsApp on [date].

2. THE DAILY AMOUNT
   The driver pays KSh [amount] for each working day, by [time]
   the same day, to the owner's M-Pesa till [number].
   Working days are [Monday to Saturday].
   Not owed: [Sunday] rest day; days the car is in the garage
   for a repair that is not the driver's fault; days the car is
   off the road because of the owner.
   An unpaid or part-paid day carries forward to the balance.

3. COSTS
   Driver pays: fuel, washing, airtime and data, traffic fines
   and parking during his shift.
   Owner pays: PSV insurance, inspection, service, tyres, and
   repairs from normal wear.
   Repairs caused by the driver's negligence, and the insurance
   excess on an accident that was his fault, are paid by the driver.
   Money the driver spends on the owner's costs is deducted from
   the next daily amount, with the receipt.

4. FALLING BEHIND
   If the daily amount is unpaid for [2] days in a row, the owner
   may take the car back until the balance is cleared.

5. USE OF THE CAR
   Only the driver named here drives the car. Accidents are
   reported to the owner within [2] hours, and to the police as
   the law requires.

6. ENDING THE AGREEMENT
   Either party may end this agreement with [7] days' notice.
   On the last day the car is returned clean, with the items
   listed in clause 1, and the balance is settled.

Signed:
Owner  ______________________  Date ________
Driver ______________________  Date ________
Witness ____________________   Date ________

The agreement is only half of it

A signed paper settles what was agreed. It does not tell you, on a Thursday night, that Tuesday was never paid — or give the driver a way to see his own balance without asking you.

That is the part Gariboss does. It follows exactly the rules above: the daily amount, which days are owed, rest and garage days that are not, and a running balance you both see. He pays into your own till from his phone; you get one message in the evening saying who paid and who is short.