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GrabTaxi and other ride-sharing apps form alliance against Uber

This article is more than 12 months old

It looks like taxi drivers aren't the only ones going after ridesharing app, Uber.

Similar apps including Asia-based GrabTaxi, Didi Kuaidi, and Ola and US-based Lyft are are forming an alliance against their biggest rival, Uber.

Lyft said that this alliance will ensure that they have a user base of "nearly 50 per cent of the world's population".

Mr John Zimmer, the co-founder and president of Lyft, which is the second most popular ridesharing app in the US, said: "This isn't solely a partnership of four companies, but also an opportunity to have a greater impact on the future of our cities worldwide."

Uber. the San Francisco-based company, still receives billions in funding from investors.

The industry leader now operates in 67 countries.

Million bookings

 Grab Taxi, the biggest such operator in Singapore, is available across 22 cities in six countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, VIetnam and Thailand.

The company said it receives a total of more than a million booking requests a day.

But these apps continue an uphill battle with government regulation.

A Philippines court halted the operations of private transport services Uber and GrabCar for 20 days.

The court found that the prevalence of the apps had resulted in "less or low incomes and earnings" to taxi operators.

Didi Kuaidi, a China-based app operating in 199 cities, accounts for 83.2 per cent share of active users in China.

Uber, which operates in only 20 cities in China, has 16.2 per cent of the share.

It  said it wants to be in 100 cities by next year. 

Ola is an India-based app which operates in at least 85 Indian cities.

So how do commuters gain?

This alliance enable users of these apps to use their preferred app even when travelling in another country - without having to download the latter country's preferred app.

So if you are a GrabTaxi user in Singapore, you wouldn't have to download Ola to use its service in India.

Source: Wired, CNBC

 

 

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