Careem has officially welcomed Hala taxis in Ras Al Khaimah into its fold, the emirate’s transport authority announced today.

Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority said following a pilot involving 50 Hala taxis in the northern emirate, the app technology service has now been extended to include 500 in total.

In a press release, Hala said taxis booked via the Careem app will follow the same pricing model as regular taxis, with no price surges at peak hours.

“In preparation for the launch of the second phase, each taxi driver has participated in intensive training, with an onboarding program to ensure a high competency with the booking technology, and ongoing training schedule in place for continued development,” said the press release.

Clemence Dutertre, CEO of Hala, said: “We believe in using technology to simplify movement, empowering our riders to travel easily wherever they may need to go. I am happy to see the beautiful progress we have been able to realise in the pilot phase of our launch, with an average customer trip rating of 4.7/5, achieved by working closely with our valued partners at RAKTA to implement a service of the highest quality.”

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Clemence Dutertre, CEO of Hala

The service, which is a joint venture between Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority (RAKTA) and Hala, follows a similar venture between Hala and Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA).

At present, the app service for Hala taxis is only available for journeys that originate in the two emirates of Dubai or Ras Al Khaimah, but drivers are able to drop passengers off in other emirates.

Careem launched services in Ras Al Khaimah in July 2020. The company was born in 2012 in Dubai and now operates across the MENA region and in Pakistan. It was acquired by ride-hailing giant Uber for $3.1 billion in January 2020.

(Writing by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)

(imogen.lillywhite@refinitiv.com)

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© ZAWYA 2020