Ride-share app Uber has discontinued service in five major cities of Pakistan which include Karachi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan and Peshawar, urging users to switch to their subsidiary brand Careem instead.
The announcement was made on Tuesday on the Uber website, which revealed that the app would continue to function in Lahore. “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 statement on the Uber website read.
Uber’s acquisition of rival ride-share company Careem took place in 2020 for $3.1 billion, and it was posited that both companies would continue to operate in their respective regional areas as independent brands. Uber’s recent statement reflected on this as they said, “When we acquired Careem, it was always our belief that the two companies could come together to complement each other’s strengths and better serve the region through tailored experiences.”
However, Tuesday’s move will see a reduction in the market overlap between US-based Uber and Middle East-based Careem. Uber said that they will help drivers and riders and communicate to them how they can shift to Careem and make the change easier.
“We know this is a difficult time for the teams who have worked incredibly hard to build this business over the past few years,” the statement read, adding, “We greatly appreciate everyone’s contributions and our priority is to minimize the impact to our employees, drivers, riders, and Hero partners who use the Uber app during this change in Karachi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan and Peshawar.
