Car rental service Udrive launches in Abu Dhabi

Pay-per-minute car rental service Udrive has officially launched in Abu Dhabi after receiving approval from the Department of Transport.

The launch comes more than a year after the firm resumed operations in Dubai in January 2017 following the suspension of operations the previous year due to regulatory issues.

Read: Dubai hourly car rental service returns after suspension

Its Abu Dhabi offering initially comprises 100 Toyota Yaris, Peugeot 208, Nissan Tiida, Nissan Sunny, Ford EcoSport, Ford Figo, Chevrolet Spark, Chevrolet Aveo and Kia Picanto vehicles with rates including fuel, parking and insurance.

A further 5 per cent of the fleet will be electric cars.

After downloading the app and registering using their Emirates ID/passport and driving licence, customers are directed to the nearest vehicle.

They then unlock it via the company’s app and pay with their registered credit card based on usage at Dhs0.50 ($0.14) plus VAT per minute – capped at Dhs135 ($37).

Once a user has finished with the vehicle it must be returned to the same city where it was picked up.

Last month the company also expanded into Sharjah with a fleet of 100 vehicles.

Read: Pay-per-minute car rental service launches in Sharjah

“We are also planning to allow customers to drive from Abu Dhabi to Dubai or Sharjah and end your trip there against an additional fee,” said CEO and founder Hasib Khan.

Udrive currently has 25,000 registered users and records 700 trips per day.