KARACHI: Uber Technologies Inc said on Tuesday it won’t operate its ride-hailing app in Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Islamabad anymore.

“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.

It’ll continue to offer services in Lahore with new product launches to “support earners during these difficult times”.

Uber acquired Careem, its rival company headquartered in Dubai, for $3.1 billion in 2019. It vowed to run the two apps simultaneously at the time of acquisition — an assertion that most sector analysts expressed doubts about.

“They’ll ultimately have to shut down one of the two apps. Today’s decision was inevitable,” said one industry insider while speaking to Dawn on Tuesday.

“Karachi and Rawalpindi/Islamabad are the two largest cities in terms of the ride-sharing business. Uber has retained its Lahore operations because it’s in a leading position there. It’s a profitable market for them,” the source said while requesting anonymity.

Careem didn’t respond to Dawn’s query about its market share in the ride-hailing business. An entrepreneur in the mobility start-up ecosystem with no direct competition to Careem said the company is “not in the best position right now” in Karachi and Rawalpindi/Islamabad. The In-Driver app is currently the market leader in the four-wheeler segment, according to multiple sources in the mobility sector. The San Francisco–based company began operations in Pakistan in the first half of 2021. It on-boarded drivers by promising cash-based payments without any commissions.

According to an analysis by Data Darbar, a website that tracks investment flows into the country’s tech ecosystem, In-Driver has been able to get in the driving seat of the ride-hailing market in Pakistan without any physical presence. The website said the number of In-Driver app downloads was almost twice the downloads of Careem Pakistan’s app.

Uber and Careem have been neck and neck historically, with the majority of Uber rides originating from Lahore. Post-2019, Uber and Careem have jointly burnt about half a billion dollars in marketing and promotions, the source said. “They’ve built market awareness for sure, but they haven’t been able to capitalise on that to make profits,” it added.

A financial analyst said another reason for Uber to stay in the Lahore market is that a complete pull-out from Pakistan would’ve made headlines around the world because of its status as a listed company.

“I think this was one way to ensure the news doesn’t make too much noise,” it said, adding that Lahore is the smallest among the three major markets in Pakistan for all mobility players. “The fact of the matter is that Pakistan is a very, very difficult market to run a mobility start-up. Affordability is a big problem. The market drops as soon as you increase the fare,” it said.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2022