Taxify just reduced prices in Nairobi for a limited period; the exact time frame was, however, not specified. This announcement just intensified the already heated Taxi hailing business in Kenya especially its capital, Nairobi. Many players have been battling for market share with price cuts being made left and right. Most recently, MaraMoja Transport announced lowered fares that dependent on off-peak and peak hours. With all these changes, we were curious how Little Cabs’ and Uber’s rates compare with the newly reduced prices. Note that all figures are in KShs.
| Taxify | MaraMoja
(peak) |
MaraMoja
(Off-peak) |
Little Cabs | Uber | |
| Start | 75 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Price per KM | 30 | 4.99 | 40 | 30 | 35 |
| Price per Min | 2 | 5.99 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
*Taxify takes 15% commission while Uber goes for 25%.
*MaraMoja’s prices are limited to off peak (8PM to 6AM) and peak hours (6AM to 8PM)
The Taxify price drop comes days after Didi Chuxing invested into the company. Didi is the leading Taxi hailing firm in China and has already bought off Uber’s business in that country. The investment was to enable Taxify to expand to other regions such as Europe, Asia and Africa. This will lead to the services growing into other towns within Kenya to reach more customers.
Drivers might be wondering if the reduced Taxify prices will translate to them getting lower pays, but worry not, an email communication from the company promised to compensate them accordingly.
“While lowering the prices, we’ll be compensating our drivers with bonuses, to compensate the difference. Our focus is to provide drivers with better revenue per ride and keeping them happy with earnings and support we provide, which leads to ultimately better service for clients. Both sides win with Taxify”. stated the email.