Oi Melbourne. Jonesing for a cheap ride home today? You’re absolutely in luck. Ridesharing service Taxify has officially launched in the city as of this morning, and it’s bringing with a raft of hellishly cheap fares in a bid to get users on board.
The Estonian-owned company, which is the fastest-growing ride-hailing service in the world, previously launched in Sydney back in December, offering users half-price rides for the first month. The service is still discounting rides for Sydneysiders at a rate of 25% as it pushes to take a chunk of the ridesharing market that Uber dominates.
That half-price introductory offer is being extended to Melburnians, with all rides hailed by users in the Victorian capital today copping a 50% mark down.
Taxify bases its platform on being cheaper overall than Uber, while capping surge charges and offering better pay structures to drivers.
Taxify bosses trumpet its commission rate of 15% on fares, compared to Uber’s floating rate of 20-25%, meaning drivers theoretically take home more pay per fare.
In excess of 10,000 Melbourne drivers are said to have already registered with the company ahead of its launch in the city this morning.
Taxify Australian manager Samuel Raciti stated that, overall, their fares are around 5% cheaper than Uber, and that their lean operations in the country are allowing the company to maintain a lower pricing structure overall.
It’s a market dominated by one key player. Launching in Australia makes sense, because having a monopoly is not good for anyone, so coming in allowed us to give the consumers some choice, a price difference, and keep everyone on their toes.
That’s our strategy laid out in front of you, make it cheaper and more reasonable for riders and help drivers earn more.
Raciti also confirmed that the company’s surge pricing will be capped at a multiplier of 1.5x, and will not be utilised in the first four or five months of operation in the city, except during special events.
The ridesharing company already has operations in 20 countries after launching in 2013, and it has plans to expand to Perth, Brisbane, and Adelaide in the coming months.
The app is available to be downloaded via the usual app store outlets.
