Ride-hailing app Uber on Tuesday announced that its has ceased operating its app in Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Islamabad.

"Uber remains committed to Pakistan — we will continue to serve these five cities with our subsidiary brand Careem and continue to operate the Uber app in Lahore," the company said in a statement posted on its website.

The company said that it will continue to offer its services in Lahore with new product launches to "support earners during these difficult times".

It said it would communicate with its riders and partners in the five cities on how to use and smoothly transition to Careem.

"When we acquired Careem, it was always our belief that the two companies could come together to complement each other’s strengths and better serve the region through tailored experiences," the statement added.

The company said it was aware this was a "difficult time" for its teams, which had "worked incredibly hard to build this business over the past few years".

"We greatly appreciate everyone’s contributions and our priority is to minimise the impact on our employees, drivers, riders, and Hero partners who use the Uber app during this change in Karachi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan and Peshawar," the statement reads.

Uber had completed its acquisition of rival Careem in 2020 for $3.1 billion. It was said at the time that Careem and Uber would continue to offer their respective regional services and continue operations as independent brands.

With the finalisation of the deal, Uber had acquired Careem’s mobility, delivery, and payments businesses across the greater Middle East region, with major markets including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, in a statement later today, Careem said that it would continue serving customers in 10 operational cities across Pakistan. "We are investing in growing our operations and providing our customers with safer, more reliable, and affordable mobility solutions.

"We are focused on our purpose of simplifying and improving lives in the country. We strongly believe in our Super App vision, and a successful ride-hailing business is fundamental to it. Careem continues to serve customers in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Multan, Faisalabad, and Peshawar, confidently, in addition to 5 other cities where we operate," it said.

The statement added that Careen was the pioneer of ride-hailing in Pakistan and since its inception in 2016, "we have invested over $100 million, created over 800,000 income opportunities for Captains in Pakistan and have over 9 million registered Customers on our Super App".