Karachi:
Amid stiff competition from local players, global ride-hailing service Uber has halted all operations in Pakistan after suspending its services in some major cities in 2022, a spokesperson confirmed today.
“Our subsidiary brand, Careem, will continue to provide taxi services across Pakistan,” the spokesperson said, Press Trust of India reported.
In 2019, Uber had acquired its rival Careem for $3.1 billion.
The two companies had said they would continue to operate their respective regional services and independent brands.
Uber had shut down all its operations in Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Islamabad by 2022.
It operated in these five cities through Careem and Uber app in Lahore.
The spokesperson said the company would now focus on growing its Careem app in Pakistan and Uber users will have to switch to Careem as its operations in Pakistan have been halted from Tuesday.
He also said that Uber users with balances in their accounts would be able to recover their amounts in due course and get free rides on Careem.
Ride-hailing and sharing apps have grown in Pakistan in recent years, with other local players entering the market and offering more competitive fares.
This led to the erosion of Careem and Uber's stronghold in Pakistan.
Currently, In-Ride, where users can negotiate the fare with the driver, has proven itself as the most popular service.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)