Cab-booking
app Easy Taxi has wound up its operations in Singapore due to stiff
competition, The Straits Times has learnt.
While the
Brazil-based start-up - which entered the market here in December
2013 - declined to reveal when it stopped operations, industry
players said it was likely to have been late last month.
An Easy Taxi
spokesman from Brazil would confirm only that the company was
"scaling down operations in the region", after entering Asia two
years ago.
SILENT DEPARTURE
They left without a sound and many drivers are
not aware.
TAXI DRIVER ARMSTRONG HO, on Easy
Taxi's closure
"Highly
funded competition and market dynamics have led us to centre our
efforts on selected core markets in Latin America, Middle East and
Africa," he said.
Four other
taxi-booking apps have been launched here in the last two years:
GrabTaxi, Hailo, MoobiTaxi and Uber. They allow passengers to book
taxis from any of Singapore's six operators and match cabbies with
customers via location-based technology.
Since Easy
Taxi started in 2012, it has received a total of US$77 million
(S$108 million) from investors, but this figure is dwarfed by
GrabTaxi's US$700 million and Uber's US$8 billion. The latter pair
are big players in Asia.
A source said
Easy Taxi is also looking to consolidate its stronghold in Latin
America. There, it occupies over 80 per cent of the markets in Peru
and Chile. The company also aims to stave off rival Uber, which
many speculate will expand "aggressively" there.
In Singapore,
Easy Taxi had at one point employed as many as 50 staff, with over
20,000 taxi drivers on its platform.
When The
Straits Times visited its office at the CT Hub in Kallang Avenue on
Wednesday, the premises were locked.
Meanwhile,
cabbies said that early last month, Easy Taxi had began refunding
them their driver credits. To use the app, taxi drivers need to
have accounts with Easy Taxi, from which the firm deducts its
commission of 30 cents for successful bookings.
Taxi driver
Armstrong Ho, 47, said that late last month, he stopped receiving
booking requests from the app.
He posted a
comment on Easy Taxi's Facebook page but did not receive a
reply.
"They left
without a sound and many drivers are not aware," said Mr Ho, who
added that Easy Taxi does not have a cancellation policy, unlike
Hailo and Uber, which provide drivers with a $2 refund if a
passenger cancels.
"I've had
Easy Taxi passengers who cancelled their booking when I'd nearly
reached the pick-up point. It's a waste of time," Mr Ho added.
Meanwhile,
the Land Transport Authority (LTA) also said it has been informed
of Easy Taxi's decision to stop operating in the Republic. In May,
a Bill was passed requiring taxi app companies to register with the
LTA and to comply with a regulatory framework.
