The Big Questions

Village, Tecom and Deira Fish Market and inside the shopping malls across UAE. However, the team is currently working with authorities to establish exclusive Udrive parking spots at ‘points of interest’ across the city.

In response to cleanliness and damage, before the app sends a signal to the satellite to “lock or unlock a car at the beginning or end of a trip”, the user will be asked two questions about damage and cleanliness.

“If the user flags a problem a customer service agent will call to try and alleviate the issue. They will either give the driver the go ahead if damage is minor or send a new car to the location,” Khan said.

But like in any situation, the police should be called when an accident occurs.

All cars will be fully insured but in the case of damage being misreported or occurring when a vehicle is stationary, the driver will only be liable if it is provable they are to blame.

“In cases of small scratches etc, we will cover those if it is not at the fault of the driver.” The first-time Udrive user: A Udrive user for nine days now, Ali Farrag said the Dh20-a-month fee is worth every fil.

“People compare this service to Uber and Careem, but it’s not a taxi service, it’s a rental service.”

And what is the one thing every car rental service wants here? A security deposit.

“Normal rental security deposits are a lot more than Dh20. My friend had Dh5,000 held off his card once. That doesn’t happen with Udrive. They deduct Dh1 to verify your credit card and once approved that is refunded.”

Since launching on March 15, Farrag has driven to and from his home in Tecom and his work in Media City everyday. The trip has cost about Dh5 each way.

“That is cheaper than a taxi and each day I’ve walked no further than one roundabout from my apartment. On the first day there were four cars in the area and since then there has always been one available for me.”

We don’t see Udrive as competition, but in fact complementary to Uber’s services as part of a wider city transportation network. Users have more choice in how they get around the city and can use Udrive in ways different to Uber

Uber

We are excited to see more technology-enabled solutions entering the transportation landscape in UAE. We are targeting different use cases and think that the services are complementary

Careem