Careem slashed Karachi prices by 30% after Uber

The price war between Careem and Uber is heating up. After Uber has cut its prices up to 30 percent for Lahoris, Dubai based startup Careem on Saturday slashed the ‘Go’ booking fares of up to 30 percent for the Karachitis.

The increasing popularity of Uber forced Careem to reduce its Karachi fair by 30 percent.

Careem said in a statement that the residents of Karachi can now book ‘Go’ rides at discounted rate of Rs 11 per kilometer as compared to an earlier rate of Rs 15 per kilometer — a nearly 30 percent cut in fares.

Careem also reduced the ‘Economy’ ride fares by Rs 2 per kilometer — the new rate will be Rs 15 per kilometer rather than old Rs 17 per kilometer.

The middle east based company didn’t make any statement regarding ‘Business’ ride fares and these changes only apply to ‘Go’ and ‘Economy’ fleet.

Careem entered Pakistani market last year, launching its services in Lahore & Karachi. Later, it expanded its operational network to include federal capital Islamabad.

Even though Careem has reduced its ‘Go’ fares by 30 percent, it’s still expensive than its San Francisco base rival Uber which charges only Rs 9.38 per kilometer for ‘Go’ ride.

Uber also charges a minimum of Rs 2 per minute along with a minimum fare of Rs 150. On the other hand, Careem charges minimum of Rs 200 fare along with Rs 330 per hour for waiting time.

Uber launched in Pakistani market earlier this year when it started the services in Lahore. Last month, Uber expanded its operations to include Karachi. The ride-sharing service decided to celebrate its first six months in Lahore with an announcement on 1^st September that it would cut fares for provincial capital by 30 percent in order to boost demand.

It is still not clear yet how Careem’s new offer will affect the growing taxi market in Karachi.