Careem says its ride-hailing services hit by Covid-19, inflation

ISLAMABAD: Careem – the super app invested $100 million during last five years and created 0.8 million employment opportunities, however, Covid-19 pandemic and inflation had a significant impact on Careem’s ride-hailing services.

This was revealed by Fatima Akhtar Ahmad, Director of government Relations Careem and Madiha Javed Qureshi, Director Communications and Public Relations Careem, while briefing media persons at the launch of an independent report by Oxford Economics, “The Socio-Economic Impact of Careem”, including data from 2015-2019).

Replying to a question, the Careem officials stated that there was need for harmonisation in policies and taxes across the country as different provinces have different regulations, which is creating confusion.

They further said the introduction of lockdown in response to the Covid-19 in April 2020 had a significant impact on Careem’s ride-hailing services.

In January 2020, Careem had just over 82,000 active captains who collectively made a total of 7.8 million trips during the month. However, in April 2020, the number of active captions fell by 88 percent to 10,400, while the number of monthly trips fell by 95 percent to just 380,000.

Following the easing of lockdown restrictions on May, Careem’s ride-hailing services began to recover and move towards pre-Covid levels. Over the eight months from April 2020 the number of active captain increased more than five-fold reaching 57,800 in December 2020. Over the same period, the number of trips increased by an average 26 percent each month reaching over four million trips in December 2020.

Careem, the Super App of the greater Middle East and Pakistan, has partnered with Oxford Economics to release “The Socio-Economic Impact of Careem”, an independent report including data from 2015-2019. The report is a detailed account of how Careem has contributed to opportunities of income generating activities, providing reliable services that simplify lives, safer mobility for women and the socio and economic impact on captains, customers, colleagues and the local communities.

The report includes in-depth data of Careem captains and customers, their demographics, total trips taken on Careem in addition to the economic impact created by the company.

According to the report, Careem has invested more than $100 million in Pakistan since the last five years, creating a customer base of 9-10 million in Pakistan, taking a total of 236 million rides.

The customer base of Careem Pakistan consists of 64 percent male and 36 percent females. The report indicates that Careem Pakistan has a total of 800,000 registered Captains.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021