Ride hailing company expands to London, reduces fare in Nigeria

This development comes even as the on-demand taxi hailing service expands its services to London.

The company according to a statement in the Punch are promising more for less to their riders and drivers in these ember months.

"Taxify understands that every naira counts during these ember months , and we are keeping our promise of helping you do more for less."

Our September price drop means that not only will riders pay less for their trips but driver-partners will see even better earnings from increased demand."

It added "While lowering the prices, we will be compensating drivers with bonuses and keeping them happy with the earnings and support we provide, which leads to ultimately better service for riders."

The company is also saying it has suspended any surge pricing and offering a huge 50% discount to riders in the month of September.

Comparing itself directly other ride-sharing platforms, Taxify "takes only 15% commission from its drivers, which is up to half the commission taken by other ride-sharing platforms."

"The service also allows drivers to create a defined radius for pickups, meaning they don't need to stray too far from home," he said.

On their expansion to London, the CEO said they have listened to the cry for a better alternative from Londoners, hence their move to the city.

Thousands of drivers have been signed up and ready to accept rides in the capital starting Tuesday September 5, 2017.

Markus Villig, founder and CEO of Taxify, said: “London is a huge and thriving marketplace for private urban transport, and we’re excited to launch here. We know that Londoners are crying out for an alternative to the options currently available to them and we have listened intently to what both drivers and riders want.

“We have based our business around a sense of fairness and transparency and it is testament to our business model that we have had thousands of London drivers sign up to Taxify in such a short space of time. We are enormously proud to be offering more choice and improved quality of service to riders.”

Finn Geraghty, UK operations manager, comments: “Drivers can expect to earn 10% more when driving with Taxify compared to competitors. Taxify achieves this by offering loyalty rewards to drivers in conjunction with lower prices to riders. Our focus as a company has always been providing our drivers with higher revenue-per-ride, as we’re firm in our belief that happy drivers means happy riders.”

Taxify OÜ is an Estonian international transportation network company headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia. As of March 2017, Taxify operates in 18 countries and 25 cities in Europe, Western Asia, Africa and Mexico.

Taxify launched in Lagos, Nigeria sometime in November last year 2016, and has since been fighting for market share with Uber.