Uber cuts Lahore fares by 30%

Ride-hailing company slashes fares to celebrate six months of service in the city

Ride-hailing service Uber has reduced its fares in Lahore by 30 per cent starting from September 1.

Celebrating its first six months in Lahore, the ride-hailing service announced a cut in per kilometre charges for its "low-cost" UberGo cars from Rs 13.7 to Rs 6.84. The per-minute waiting charges have also been slightly reduced, but base fare and other charges remain the same.

“We are excited about our growth in Lahore and we are committed to making Uber the most affordable and convenient option to move around. On the driver side, we are confident that increased demand will also mean higher earnings," Uber Head of Expansion for Pakistan Zohair Yousafi said.

“After years of experience, we have learnt that price cuts boost demand so more people are requesting more rides with Uber, meaning drivers will spend more time with riders in the backseat and less time sitting idly waiting for a request. We reduced fares in cities such as Cairo, Egypt and Lagos, Nigeria and saw that these cuts had resulted in an improvement in the volume of rides requested on the Uber platform," Yousafi added.



Uber launched its services in Karachi last week.

The company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Sindh government’s transport department on its launch on Thursday to support the use of technology in the transportation system.

Uber’s fleet size in Lahore is 1,000 cars. These partner-drivers cater to the active client base of 65,000 in the city. Looking at the initial response, company officials say they are confident of making a strong client base in Karachi in a very short time.