Diamond updates app to better compete with Uber

Users can pay, plus rate ride and vehicle on smartphone

Montreal’s taxi industry has been criticized recently for being behind the times, and Taxi Diamond says it’s responding with an upgrade to its mobile application.

The city’s largest taxi company released an updated version of its smartphone app on Monday. Users can pay through the app and rate their ride and the vehicle they’re riding in — not unlike the popular taxi app Uber.

“We decided to do this year some modifications to our application obviously to answer demands from customers,” said Raffi Artinian, Taxi Diamond’s assistant general manager.

This comes after Quebec Transport Minister Robert Poëti called on the industry to modernize at a taxi summit last week in Montreal.

The arrival of the Uber taxi service in Montreal has put pressure on the city’s taxi companies to update their service.

Paying through the app may be one of the most welcomed options in Taxi Diamond’s upgrade, Artinian said. Many pro-Uber users are critical of taxi drivers who refuse to accept debit and credit cards. Taxi passengers can also pay in the taxi itself, he said.

“Today’s app is identical to the top apps out there, including Uber’s app,” Artinian said.

“You can hail, you can follow the car, you can see the car that’s on its way to your destination on a map.

“We’re answering what customers asked from us.

“They asked us for better cars, better drivers, better customer service.”

Artinian said there has been “a slight drop in calls,” because customers are drawn to UberX prices. Uber trips typically cost less than a taxi ride, but prices can also surge depending on the demand and circumstances.

“We’re not allowed to change our pricing, trust me if we could, we would,” Artinian said. “We can’t fight them on that end because it’s illegal and we don’t want to be an illegal company, so we’ll fight them on the other end which is customer service.”

Taxi fares are set at the provincial level, but UberX has argued in the past that it is a ride-sharing service not bound by taxi regulations.

The city has responded by seizing 40 UberX vehicles and Revenue Quebec has raided two Uber offices in Montreal.

Taxis also face distrust from customers in light of the number of assaults recently reported.

Some Uber users say they feel safer using the taxi alternative because they can check a driver’s ratings.

Artinian says that all Taxi Diamond drivers have their backgrounds checked.

He adds that he has never heard of a situation of violence reported by customers.

The company says that it receives an average of 6,000 to 7,000 calls a day and provides almost five million taxi rides per year.

Approximately 15 per cent of Taxi Diamond’s customers used the old application and can update now to the new version, the company said.

Taxi Diamond’s application was originally launched in 2011 and eventually paired up with TAG taxi, a Montreal-based developer, for subsequent updates.

Before this update, the app was used to hail cabs rather than calling the dispatch centre.

Taxi Diamond has about 1,100 vehicles and 2,500 drivers in the west and centre of Montreal.