Ride-hailing firm Bolt INCREASES London prices in wake of driver shortages matching app rival Uber

Ride-hailing firm Bolt has raised its prices in the capital, just two months after its rival Uber raised its own fares due to tighter regulations and a shortage of drivers.

Following a number of High Court judgments, which ruled that Uber drivers were employees rather than independent contractors, and that the company's booking model was unlawful, accompanied by major driver shortages in the private hire industry, the Silicon Valley giants increased fares in London.

Bolt have now followed suit upping their prices by 10%.

Prices for Bolt's standard private hire car service now closely match Uber's at £1.42 (Uber's being £1.41) per mile. 13p per minute is also added to each fare price which starts at £2.75, with a minimum fare requirement of £5.50, all of which match Uber's to the penny.

The Estonian born firm, who have ambitions of being the number one 'Super App' announced its largest ever funding round this week to further scale its existing products and accelerate the transition from owned cars to shared mobility in cities.

The £523 million (€628 million) investment round was led by Sequoia Capital and Fidelity Management and Research Company LLC with participation from Whale Rock, Owl Rock (a division of Blue Owl), D1, G Squared, Tekne, Ghisallo, and others, and takes Bolt’s valuation to £6.1 billion (€7.4 billion).

Bolt have been approached for comment.