Uber is under pressure in Dubai after the emirate’s transportation regulator signed a contract with regional competing Careem and cautioned other such firms that they need to do the exact same.
Under the contract between Careem and Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), revealed on Tuesday, Careem’s consumers will be able to book all the 9,841 taxis and 4,700 limos running in the emirate through the company’s app.
Presently, Careem users in Dubai, a city of about 2.5 million people, can only select from a couple of thousand limos which it provides through its app.
“Any e-hailing service that desires to continue working in Dubai should sign an agreement with us. Why? To have control of tariff and to have control of safety,” RTA director-general Mattar al-Tayer informed Reuters.
He stated other ride-hailing services would need to sign comparable agreements with the regulator by next March to continue operating.
The requirement is an additional difficulty to Uber in the United Arab Emirates. Its operations in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, surrounding Dubai, have actually been suspended from August in an evident disagreement with authorities there. Careem also stopped its Abu Dhabi services in late August but resumed them a few days later on.
Uber, which has an appraisal of around $69 billion, has expanded aggressively to over 450 cities from 2009, battling a series of battles with regional regulators.
