Hala and Careem launch e-hailing services in Ras Al Khaimah

The Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority (RAKTA) has partnered with Dubai Taxi’s booking service Hala and ride-hailing app Careem to provide the first e-hailing service for taxis and limos in the emirate.

The service will offer customers several benefits, including knowing their rides ETA (estimated time of arrival), fare estimate and route upfront, along with their driver’s details.

App booking also offers multiple payments methods, including cash, card, or in-app payments, while riders will automatically collect Reward points for each trip. The prices of Hala rides remain unchanged during peak hours as well.

Hala and Careem will be launching a pilot phase in Ras Al Khaimah until they increase their fleet, and will be available by mid-August 2020.

“This step comes from the authority’s commitment to uplift the transport sector and ensure the provision of safe, reliable and smart transport services. It is in line with the authority’s strategy of digital and smart transformation, to keep pace with the global transformation standards in the field of urban transport planning – whereby the aim is to facilitate movement of individuals around the city, reducing private car ownership,” said Ismail Al Balooshi, director general at RAKTA.

Clemence Dutertre, CEO of Hala added: ”Hala’s purpose is to empower people to move around more easily, leveraging Careem’s best in class technology to deliver amazing experiences. We believe this ambition is shared by the Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority, and city as a whole.

“Entering the Ras Al Khaimah market represents a huge cooperation between both public and private sectors, and will allow us to deploy our technology to optimize the infrastructure and provide easy and convenient options for people to travel around seamlessly, in addition to a great customer experience,” concluded Bassel Al Nahlaoui, managing director of Careem (Gulf and Pakistan).

In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hala, in April, offered a 20 per cent discount on rides booked through the Careem app to and from select hospitals in Dubai.

Read: Dubai’s Hala service offers 20% off on rides to and from hospitals

It also partnered with Dubai-based startup Sweetheart Kitchen to offer free meals to Hala captains.

Read more: Dubai’s Hala service partners with Sweetheart Kitchen to offer free meals

Meanwhile, Careem, which was acquired by Uber for $3.1bn last year, cut 536 jobs or 31 per cent of its workforce last month due to the impact of coronavirus-related restrictions on its business.

Read: Dubai’s Careem cuts 536 jobs, Uber Eats to stop Saudi operations