Bolt Marketplace is a feature inside the Bolt driver/fleet dashboard used by drivers to find cars to drive, and also used by car owners to list their vehicles for rent. This is one of the easiest ways to earn extra income with Bolt taxi. You can simply list the car you're not currently using to qualified drivers, and drivers who aren't with a car and need to hustle can easily go to the marketplace to search for a car to rent.
The marketplace can be accessed by creating a Bolt account, either as a driver or a fleet owner. A driver account can only be used to rent a car, while a fleet account can only be used to list a car for rent. However, it's also important to know that you can register for both accounts, which means you can open both a fleet account and a driver account. The car owners who list their vehicles on the platform are also called "Bolt Partners".
As a fleet owner and Bolt partner, you can manage your assets from one easy-to-use dashboard and grow your transport business.
Bolt platform
Bolt Fleet (and its Marketplace feature) is available in many of the same countries where Bolt operates ride-hailing services in Africa, including Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. The feature is also available on Bolt platform in Europe, the UAE, and some cities in the Middle East. In Nigeria, Bolt Fleet and the Marketplace feature are available and actively used, especially in major cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt.
How to create a Bolt fleet account
Follow these steps to create a fleet (cars owner) account on the Bolt ride-hailing platform:
- Visit “https://bolt.eu/fleet/” on your browser. The link will redirect you to a page assigned to your country. Make sure you can see your country flag on the page; if not, click on the flag and choose your country.
- On the sign up page, enter your working email, your phone number, and select the amount of vehicles in your fleet.
- Complete your cars registration on the platform and proceed to creating a vehicle ad. Meanwhile, it's important to let you know that ads are created for vehicle models, not specific vehicles.
- To “List Vehicle for Rent”, login to your fleet account and tap “Add Vehicle” in the main menu.
- Select the “List Vehicle for Rent” from the available options.
- You'll need to choose a model in your fleet or add a new vehicle. To do that, fill the car information, such as price, photos, conditions, and other relevant details as demanded in the listing page.
- Importantly, make sure you add an Average Response Time (ART) while listing a car on the platform to let drivers know when they can expect a response. Once published, the car will be publicly shown to interested drivers and you can also edit your ads at any time.
Notably, fleet account registration is subject to approval. Upon application submission, Bolt expects you to own a car (or multiple cars), or have access to vehicles you can legally manage. You're also expected to meet Bolt’s minimum vehicle standards (model year, condition, etc.) and have valid documents, including car registration papers, insurance, roadworthiness, a valid ID card, and possibly a business registration certificate.
Bolt's Fleet account managements
Once your car listings are public, you'll need to begin managing some things, including car ads, driver applications, and confirmations.
If you want to edit your ads, you can simply go to the “Rent” tab in the fleet dashboard to access all published ads in the “Vehicles” section. To edit an ad, just tap the vehicle model. You can also remove the listing from the Marketplace in the same way.
To view and manage driver application/car request, go to the “Rental Requests” section within the listing, and tap the driver’s name to see details like their contact information, submitted documents, and responses to the questions he/she provided during the application process.
After making your decision, you can choose to mark the driver application as “Approved,” “Decline,” or “In Progress.” However, once you approve a driver, you must remove the corresponding car ad from the platform. The approved driver’s full information will remain in the portal under the “Rental Requests” section, giving you access to their contact details for direct communication.
Drivers can log in to their driver account on the Bolt app or web platform to access the marketplace. However, there is another feature called “Car-sharing on Demand” on the platform. This feature allows you to rent a car as a rider and pay for the time and distance you drive. It is completely different from Bolt Fleet and Marketplace, which are designed exclusively for car owners and drivers. It's also important to note that the Bolt's Car-sharing on Demand is not available in Nigeria and some African countries.
