KARACHI: Uber, a fast-growing taxi service, on Thursday announced the launch of its rickshaw service in Karachi to meet a demand of the city passengers, said a statement.

“Our aim at Uber is to adapt our technology to provide safe, reliable, and affordable transportation in each of the 500 cities Uber is available in,” it said. “This is why we couldn’t be more excited to introduce uberAUTO, Pakistan’s first rickshaw service at the tap of an app is now available in Karachi. Starting today [Thursday], Uber riders in Karachi can request a rickshaw with the convenience and affordability of Uber. Simply move the slider to ‘uberAUTO’ and tap ‘request’ –– within minutes your rickshaw will arrive and you can pay using cash, or card.”

Affordable and sized to navigate through even the worst traffic jams, it’s easy to understand why rickshaws are such a popular way to get around in Karachi, said the statement adding that with uberAUTO, the technology being used to better serve the riders and the city they lived in.

“Not only does uberAUTO offer another low-cost and reliable option for riders, as the leading transportation app in Pakistan, Uber driver-partners are able to generate more earnings by using our technology to get more requests and spend less time waiting between rides,” said the statement.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2016