Today, I’m going to show you exactly how much Bolt drivers earn per month in South Africa.
These income reports are from a close friend, you can actually make a living by partnering with Bolt.
In fact, a lot of people use this opportunity for passive income and end up doing it full-time because it’s just a lucrative business for building long-term wealth.
Without wasting your time, let’s dive right in.
Bolt Driver Earnings – The Real Numbers
According to Bolt, the driver’s average salary is R8,000 per week, however, based on our experience (with my friend), if you’re in Johannesburg, you’re likely to make between R6,000 to R6,900 per week.
It’s a seasonal business and dependant on a number of factors such as the hours the driver puts in and your relationship with Bolt – activity score rating.
In 2020, the driver was making close to R1,000 per day by putting in a lot of hours of work. Obviously, there were also not a lot of cars that have joined Bolt because the industry is different and fluctuated now.
I remember in October 2020, he made over R20k for the whole month. Yes, it seems like a lot until you start understanding how Bolt works in terms of their commissions and other expenses or operating the business.
Income Report: October 2020.
Here’s a kicker, below is the Bolt Income Report for March 2022:
There were obviously some factors that impacted the Bolt earnings such as protests that happened toward the end of March 2022.
From the R10,208 income, Bolt hasn’t deducted their 20% commission for each trip they make. So this will not be your driver’s take-home salary, check out the following final tax report summary from Bolt for March 2022.
Based on the above report, your take-home salary will be R7,513 after all the Bolt deductions.
With your final income, you’ll need to manage the below expenses before profit:
- Weekly fuel
- Monthly mobile data
- Insurance
- Car service
Your car will be on the road full-time and will require more service and maintenance support to sustain your Bolt business.
There’s profit for operating the Bolt business but whether it’ll be good enough for you to invest, it’s totally up to you. We obviously share our income reports with transparency to help you with the decision-making.
Bolt Payment Cycle
Bolt pays drivers each week, every Monday morning.
Payment will include the week’s earnings plus bonuses if there are.
Funds are transferred directly into the driver’s bank account, so, if you own a car, you’ll just need to arrange with the driver how you get paid and vice versa.
Bolt Peak Hours
The best time to drive for Bolt to make higher earnings is in the mornings and evenings. It doesn’t mean there’s no money in the afternoon though, a lot of drivers tout around and makes trips the whole day.
Bolt advises its peak driving times during busier hours of the morning between 6am and 9am. And in the evening between 4pm to 9pm, drivers tend to make more earnings.
Lastly, drivers maximize earnings on weekends to help people move around the cities for shopping and other entertainment activities.
How Much Do Bolt Car Owners Make?
Most of these Bolt drivers don’t own the vehicles they work with – these cars have owners who also earn a share of the income the driver makes per week.
So I want to extend this income report to a car owner and how my friend arranged their payment model.
There are only two payment models popular used between drivers and car owners:
- Request what it’s called ‘check-ins’, popular used in the taxi industry
- A set amount to be checked in or paid to the owner every week, regardless of how much the driver makes.
- It can be a percentage or just a fixed amount, often a minimum of R1,500.00.
- Go 50/50 percent with the driver including:
- Weekly income.
- Vehicle service and maintenance.
- And traffic fines.
Let’s do some calculations assuming the driver made R7,200 that week.
Bolt will take their booking fees and 20% commissions. So the take-home salary will be about R5,850.
The driver will deduct petrol fees and money for mobile data from the total income, so you’ll be left with about R4,550 in the bank.
Because usually when the driver makes close to that amount per week, they would have taken a lot of trips, mostly longer trips that pay higher and use more money on petrol as well.
Finally, the Bolt car owner earnings can be calculated from the amount left, which could basically be about R2,500.00 per week.
So in a month, the car owner could potentially make over R10,000.00.
It’s a nice income, only if the car is fully paid for, otherwise, most of the money will go straight into the vehicle finance.
It gets even more interesting.
If you were to focus on driving your car with Bolt, you could potentially make over R17,400.00 per month.
The Costs of Operating a Bolt Business
For car owners, there’s more to Bolt than making money in South Africa as with the above-listed expenses.
There are insurances, annual vehicle disc renewals, fuel, mobile data, and traffic fines. If the car is still financed by the bank, an installment is another cost of operating your vehicle in Bolt.
Not forgetting regular car service/maintenance to keep it in good condition always, as it’s working with people and customer service. Often, it’ll go for engine service every three (3) months, excluding the replacement of brake pads and discs.
Is Bolt a Good Investment for Owners?
Basically, with the information discussed above, the choice is for the owners to decide whether it’ll be good to invest in the Bolt business.
We would recommend using the Bolt business as a short-term investment or financial vehicle for your future goals.
If you’re really good with money and can save, this could be a really great investment as the vehicle gets older on the road.