SOLO Platform Operational Manual

Executive Summary & Platform Philosophy

SOLO is an enterprise-grade, peer-to-peer digital e-hailing platform engineered specifically for the South African transport ecosystem. Unlike traditional legacy aggregator platforms that deduct between 20% and 30% commission from driver earnings, SOLO operates on a Pure Zero-Commission Model (0.0% Take-Rate).

Section A Rider Operations & User Guide

1.1 Account Registration & Zero-Cost WhatsApp Verification

SOLO utilizes instant passwordless authentication anchored directly to the South African E.164 telecommunications standard. Riders register or sign in with their mobile telephone number:

• Accepted Formats: 082 123 4567, 27821234567, or +27 82 123 4567.
• Zero-Cost WhatsApp Verification (wa.me): A 6-digit cryptographic verification passcode and a direct WhatsApp deep-link are generated instantly. Riders tap "Open WhatsApp & Auto-Fill Code" to verify identity over mobile data or Wi-Fi with zero SMS gateway costs or carrier delivery delays.

1.2 PWA Mobile Installation (Android, Samsung Internet & iOS)

SOLO is delivered as a Progressive Web Application (PWA). It requires no app store downloads and works in areas with constrained mobile bandwidth.

• Android & Samsung Internet: Open the platform in Google Chrome or Samsung Internet. An automatic banner prompts "Install SOLO App — Add to Home Screen". Tapping "Install Now" installs the app in standalone mode. In Samsung Internet, drivers can also use Menu → "Add page to" → "App screen".
• Apple iOS Devices: Open in Safari, tap the Share button (square with arrow up), scroll down and tap "Add to Home Screen", then tap "Add".

1.3 Booking a Ride & Commercial Map Routing

SOLO uses high-resolution Mapbox Commercial Geocoding and Matrix Routing. When setting pickup and dropoff points, the system calculates the optimal route and guarantees an upfront fixed price:

Fare (ZAR) = Maximum(R30.00, R20.00 + [Distance in km * R10.00])

Example: A 6.2 km trip between Camps Bay and the V&A Waterfront costs exactly R82.00. There are no surprise surge pricing multipliers or booking surcharges.

1.4 Driver Matching, 15km PostGIS Radius, Multi-Driver Decline Pool & 1-Hour Stale Request Expiry

When you tap "Request SOLO Ride", the PostGIS spatial engine scans for online, verified drivers within a 15-kilometer radius.

1.5 Pre-Boarding Vehicle Verification, 4-Digit PIN & Mismatch Protection

1.6 Proactive In-Trip Route Deviation Check-In & Live GPS Share

During an active trip (in_progress), SOLO continuously monitors live vehicle GPS telemetry against the direct pickup-to-dropoff route corridor:

• Automatic Off-Route Safety Check-In: If the vehicle deviates more than 1.5 km from the expected route corridor, the Rider app automatically triggers a prominent "Safety Check-In: Off-Route Detected" banner asking if you are safe.
• Rider Response Options: Tap "I'm Safe (Detour / Traffic)" to dismiss the alert if it is a normal road detour, or tap "Emergency SOS" to immediately dispatch your live GPS coordinates, vehicle plate, and driver identity to Rapid Response & SAPS 10111.
• 1-Tap Live Trip Telemetry Share: Riders can share their real-time trip tracking link, vehicle plate, and driver details via WhatsApp or SMS with family or trusted contacts at any point during the journey.

1.7 Direct In-Vehicle Payment Settlement & SARS Tax Receipts

Riders pay the driver directly upon arrival at the destination via Cash (ZAR banknotes), the driver's In-Vehicle Mobile Card Machine / Speedpoint (Yoco, iKhokha, bank POS supporting Tap-to-Pay, Apple Pay, Google Wallet & Samsung Pay), or optional 3D-Secure Paystack in-app card settlement. Riders immediately receive a SARS Section 11(2) compliant tax invoice at /receipt/[tripId] with itemized fare lines and 1-click PDF download.

1.8 Offline Dead Zones & SOS Emergency Hotlines

If cellular network fails during a journey (e.g., mountain passes or underground parking), the SOLO PWA automatically engages offline mode. The active trip safety screen allows 1-tap emergency calling to official South African emergency numbers:

• SAPS (Police Flying Squad): 10111
• National Ambulance & Fire: 10177
• Universal Cellular Emergency: 112

Section B Driver Operations & Partner Guide

2.1 Statutory NLTA Compliance & Requirements

In accordance with the National Land Transport Act (Act No. 5 of 2009), all drivers operating on the SOLO platform must register as independent micro-enterprises and provide proof of statutory compliance:

1. South African Driving Licence (Front & Back): Valid Code B, EB, or C1 licence card.
2. Professional Driving Permit (PrDP - Category P): Mandatory passenger transport permit.
3. Certificate of Roadworthiness (CoR): Issued by an accredited testing station within the last 6 months.
4. Vehicle Registration (RC1) & Commercial Insurance: Proving the vehicle is legally registered and insured.

2.2 KYC Document Submission & Automatic Document Expiry Lock

Upload high-resolution scans or photos of the 4 statutory documents at /driver/register or in the Driver Portal compliance drawer, including the official Document Expiration Date for each credential. Documents are stored in an encrypted, private storage bucket with strict access controls.

2.3 SaaS Subscription Model (7-Day Trial & R499/mo)

SOLO does not take 25% of your earnings. Instead:

• 7-Day Free Trial: Once approved, you enjoy 7 full days of unlimited dispatches with zero platform fees.
• R499.00 / month Flat SaaS Fee: After the trial, maintain full platform access for a flat R499/month billed through Paystack. You keep 100% of every ride fare you generate.
• Platform Founder Exemption: Platform founder Allan Boraine (allanboraine@gmail.com) holds lifetime free driver access with zero subscription charges and permanent 0% commission.

2.4 South African Banking Setup & Direct Settlement

Driver earnings settle directly to your verified South African bank account. SOLO supports all primary South African clearing institutions with standard 6-digit universal branch codes:

2.5 Single-Device Active Concurrency Policy

2.6 Daily Operating Routine & Decline Handling

Open the SOLO Driver app and toggle "Go Online". When a ride is booked within 15 km, your device sounds your selected tone. You see pickup address, destination, route distance, and guaranteed Rand fare. Tap "Accept Trip" to receive navigation routing. If you tap "Decline", the trip is dismissed only from your screen while remaining active for other drivers in your area.

2.7 Driver Notification Alerts & Native Mobile Device Sound Customization

SOLO integrates directly with your smartphone's native notification and audio system:

• Native Mobile Device Notification Tones: Drivers can set and customize their alert sound directly within their phone's operating system settings (Android Settings → Apps / Notifications → Chrome / Samsung Internet / SOLO → Notification sound, or iOS Settings → Notifications). Any ringtone or custom sound file saved on your phone can be chosen as the dispatch alert tone.
• Foreground Acoustic Dispatch Chime: When the app is open in the foreground, incoming dispatches sound an ascending acoustic chime (D5 → A5 → D6) synthesized via the Web Audio API.
• Tactile Haptic Vibration Pattern: Every incoming dispatch triggers a tactile vibration sequence ([250ms, 100ms, 250ms, 100ms, 450ms]) to alert drivers even in noisy traffic conditions.
• Service Worker Push Notifications: Dispatches use high-priority Service Worker notifications (requireInteraction: true, renotify: true), ensuring notifications play the user's selected native notification tone even when the app is in the background.

2.8 Mobile Ergonomics & Samsung Internet Optimization

The driver interface is designed for one-handed in-vehicle dashboard mounting:

• Centered Navigation: Navigation bar icons and action buttons are centered for effortless thumb reach.
• Samsung Internet Compatibility: Uses dynamic viewport units (dvh) to prevent browser address bars and Samsung One UI navigation bars from covering bottom sheets or action buttons.
• Collapsible Dispatch Sheet: Swipe down to expand the real-time radar map, or swipe up to view earnings and settings.

2.9 Arrival & PIN Verification

When you arrive at the pickup point, tap "I Have Arrived" to alert the passenger. When the passenger enters your vehicle, ask for their 4-digit SOLO safety PIN and input it into your terminal. Once confirmed, tap "Start Trip". At the destination, tap "Complete Trip" to immediately trigger payment settlement.

2.10 Driver SARS Tax Guidance

Section C Administrator Operations & Governance

3.1 KYC Review Engine (`/admin/compliance`)

The central administration console at /admin/compliance provides real-time oversight of driver applicant queues across South Africa. The telemetry dashboard displays:

• Total Drivers: Total driver records in the platform database.
• Pending Review: Applications waiting for compliance officer document inspection.
• Verified & Active: Approved drivers eligible for real-time dispatch matching.
• Action Needed: Applications where documents were rejected or need re-submission.

3.2 1-Hour Ephemeral Signed URLs for KYC Documents

To comply with the South African Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA Act No. 4 of 2013), driver identity documents and PrDP certificates are never exposed via public URLs. The compliance portal dynamically generates 1-hour signed URLs (`createSignedUrl(path, 3600)`) directly from the private `driver-documents` bucket for inline inspection.

3.3 Dual-Window Simulator (`/admin/simulator`)

The interactive simulator allows compliance officers and developers to simulate full trip lifecycles in side-by-side device frames:

• Metro Route Presets: Pre-programmed routes in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, and Pretoria.
• Speed Control: Execute journeys at 1x (real-time), 2x, or 5x speed multipliers.
• 5-Minute TTL Driver Telematics: Real drivers only, with stale driver records expiring after 5 minutes of inactivity to prevent ghost markers.
• Interactive PIN & Chat: Test the 4-digit anti-impersonation PIN verification and real-time messaging.
• Live Telemetry Drawer: Inspect PostGIS 15km matching logs, Supabase WebSockets, VAPID Web Push payloads, and Paystack settlement events.

3.4 Paystack HMAC SHA512 Webhooks

All billing operations (trip fare settlement and R499/mo driver subscriptions) are validated cryptographically at /api/paystack-webhook. Incoming webhooks are verified against PAYSTACK_SECRET_KEY using HMAC-SHA512. Forged payloads or incorrect signatures are rejected with HTTP 401.

3.5 PostGIS Proximity Matching Algorithms

Spatial matching runs on PostgreSQL PostGIS using geodesic distance queries (ST_DWithin) indexed with spatial GIST indexes. Only drivers who are online (is_online = true), verified (is_verified = true), and with active SaaS subscriptions are included in dispatch candidate pools.

3.6 Web Push VAPID Protocol Infrastructure

Background alerts for bookings, driver arrivals, and payments follow the RFC 8291 / RFC 8292 standard. Stale subscriptions that return HTTP 404 or HTTP 410 are automatically pruned from the push_subscriptions table to optimize database performance.

3.7 Dispute Resolution & Audit Trails

In case of passenger or driver queries, administrators can cross-reference the trip ID in Supabase logs, inspect the exact GPS breadcrumb path, check the timestamp of the 4-digit PIN confirmation, and review the Paystack transaction authorization code.

Section D Fleet Partner Operations & Shift Reconciliation

4.1 The South African Fleet Operating Model & Live Paystack Subscription Billing

Over 60% of South African e-hailing vehicles operate under commercial Fleet Partner / Investor ownership. Legacy aggregators (Uber/Bolt) extract 20% to 30% from gross vehicle turnover, costing fleet owners R5,000 to R8,000+ per vehicle every month.

The SOLO Fleet Partner Hub (/fleet) provides enterprise multi-vehicle management on a flat SaaS subscription with live Paystack checkout:

• Fleet Hub Base License: R770.00 / month (covers centralized fleet dashboard, telematics, shift audits, and SARS invoicing).
• Active Vehicle Slots: R499.00 / vehicle / month (matches standard driver dispatch fee with unlimited driver rotation).
• Formula: Total = R770 base + (Vehicles × R499) + 15% VAT.
• Live Paystack Registration & Subscription Checkout: Fleet partners can click "Register & Pay via Paystack" directly on the registration form to initialize live Paystack billing immediately upon signup, or start with a 7-Day Free Trial and activate recurring Paystack billing at any time from the Fleet Subscription & SARS Tax tab.
• 100% Tax-Deductible OpEx: Boraine Tech issues consolidated monthly VAT tax invoices compliant with the Value-Added Tax Act (Act No. 89 of 1991).

4.2 In-Vehicle Speedpoint & Merchant Banking Alignment

Fleet partners equip each vehicle with their registered business Speedpoint (Yoco Go/Neo or iKhokha). Digital card fares settle directly into the Fleet Owner's corporate bank account.

4.3 Shift Driver Pairing & Remote Dispatch Suspension

Fleet managers pair drivers to vehicles across Day, Night, or Full-Time shifts. When paired, drivers receive immediate dispatch clearance on SOLO without personal card billing. If a driver falls into rental arrears or the vehicle needs mechanical service, the fleet owner can toggle a remote dispatch hold with one click.

4.4 Daily Shift Reconciliation Audit

The platform generates immutable shift logs auditing trips completed, gross turnover, cash in hand, and card swipes against the agreed weekly rental target (R2,200 – R2,800/week) with one-click CSV export for accounting.

Appendix: Regulatory Directory & Contacts