"If information in Estonian is not provided, it constitutes a violation of the Language Act and the Consumer Protection Act," wrote Ilmar Tomusk, director general of the Language Inspectorate, in a letter sent last week to Bolt CEO Markus Villig.

On August 1, a person contacted Bolt with a complaint regarding the parking of the company's cars and scooters in Viimsi. The individual received a response in English to their letter written in Estonian. Following this, the person contacted the Language Inspectorate.

The Language Act stipulates that consumers of goods and services have the right to information and service in Estonian. The Consumer Protection Act requires that information provided to consumers must be in Estonian unless the consumer has agreed to receive it in another language.

According to Tomusk, such complaints about Bolt occur from time to time. For instance, in June, a customer of Bolt Food's delivery service complained that they received a response in English through the company's mobile app without an Estonian translation for an order placed in Estonian.

"That's a good question, I don't have an answer to it," Markus Villig told ERR regarding the issue.

"Our customer support is set up in 45 countries in such a way that responses can be given in the local language in each country," responded Bolt's Head of Communications Liisi Maria Aleksius. She confirmed that Bolt replies to customer emails in the language in which they are written.

"This is a mistake on our part, and we are investigating what went wrong internally that a customer support representative who speaks English responded to the letter," Aleksius stated.

In recent years, the proportion of foreign labor in Estonia has significantly increased, but the necessary level of Estonian language proficiency has not accompanied this growth.

For example, the law currently requires taxi drivers to have a B1 level of Estonian proficiency. A large number of Bolt drivers do not meet this requirement. In May of this year, the company concluded that taxi drivers did not need to know Estonian. However, Bolt now demands that drivers prove their language skills. According to Henri Arras, Bolt's head of government relations, the lack of Estonian language proficiency among platform workers is not a problem, as there are only a few complaints on this topic each month.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!