Passenger transport goes hi-tech
Another app-based taxi service operator, Taxify, is planning to further disrupt the South African taxi industry – a market that its CEO, Markus Villig, says is ripe for the picking, writes Colleen Goko
UNTIL 2012, meter taxis had no competition or rival. But this changed in 2013 with the arrival of US private car service Uber as well as the approval of tuk-tuks, normally associated with India.
Both offered cheaper and alternative ways to move around in the city.
Taxify launched in SA 10 months ago. SA is the fastestgrowing region for the group in all 16 countries it operates in. Taxify is also in Nigeria and Kenya.
Villig said Taxify drivers had not been as harassed by meter taxi drivers as Uber drivers had.
“There haven’t been many issues but the ones that do arise, we give our drivers as much support as we can.
“We educate every driver about the best places to go or not to go to avoid trouble. There is also a support line they can call if they are having difficulty,” said Villig.
There are currently about 2 000 drivers signed up to the service in Johannesburg. Taxify is also available in Cape Town and Durban.
“We are doing extremely well. I would say we have maybe 10% of the market share in Johannesburg. But that should grow,” said Villig.
Much like the Uber app, the Taxify app is easy to use and offers many of the same functions.
In an Uber, a customer can choose the kind of car they want to fetch them, and the different cars come at different prices. Taxify has only one service on offer and that means there is only one price to pay.
Additionally, Taxify does not have surge or dynamic pricing. Even when demand rises, pricing stays the same.
Drivers can work for both Uber and Taxify at the same time.
Villig said the key difference between the two companies was pricing.
“We are 15% cheaper than Uber. We also pay our drivers more per trip than any other platform.
“We are confident that these differentiators will bring more customers to us,” he said.
Villig, who is Estonian, received million (R27-million) venture capital to start up the business when he was just 19, back in 2013. He said there were plans to offer the service in more countries this year.