Expats can’t be employed by ride hailing services in Saudi

Ride hailing companies in Saudi Arabia will now only be able to employ Saudi nationals directly, officials have confirmed.

Under the rules, non-Saudi citizens are not allowed to work with Careem using their own private vehicles, co-founder Abdulla Elyas said, according to Arab News.

However, expats can still work with the ride hailing service through private and public taxi companies, the former co-founder of address coding service enwani said.

The rule changes follow new regulation introduced to the sector four months ago by the government.

The regulation is intended to close the gap between taxi supply and demand, Ministry of Transport general supervisor of corporate communications and marketing Turki Attaimi was quoted as saying.

He said many people involved in the sector were expatriates, some of which were in violation of visa and labour laws or used unlicensed cars.