Careem paid out Dh709,000 to customers for late food deliveries

Careem paid Dh709,000 ($193,000) last year as part of a campaign to reimburse customers for late food deliveries in Dubai.

The figure was revealed to The National as the app launched their 2024 Dirhams for Delays campaign in the emirate.

The initiative, launched last year, promises customers they will be reimbursed Dh1 for every minute their food is late.

Careem said the reimbursed money did not come from the wages of food delivery riders – known as captains – but from the company’s marketing budget.

“Last year, customers were reimbursed Dh709,000 for food orders that exceeded their estimated time of arrival,” said Jaskaran Singh, vice president of food at Careem.

“Despite this, the overwhelming majority of Careem Food orders in both 2022 and 2023 were delivered on time, with only one in 20 surpassing their ETA.”

The company said that rather than adding additional pressure on delivery drivers, it encouraged safety, paying bonuses to those found to be riding safely.

“This campaign is about being super accurate with the delivery times we share with our customers, not about excessive speed,” said Mr Singh.

“We’re confident that our delivery prediction and tracking technology is the best in the market and we want to show our customers that they can rely on us to eat on time, every time.

“The safety and well-being of our captains is a priority for us. They can’t see ETA times for orders and won’t bear responsibility for any late deliveries. This is really just about us being so confident in the efficiency of our service, and we’re willing to bet on it.”

The refunded amount is deposited into the customer’s Careem Pay wallet for use on any of the platform’s services. It can also be transferred to a bank account.

Reimbursing Dh709,000 suggests that Careem was late with orders for 709,000 minutes during last year’s campaign in Dubai – which ran from May 8 to June 30.

This is equal to more than 492 days – or about 11,816 hours.

This year’s campaign runs until March 10.

Careem Food was launched in Dubai in 2020 and order volumes have increased significantly in recent years.

It now operates in more than 70 cities across 10 countries.