The launch of Uber in Kenya ushered in an era of battles among emergent taxi hailing apps.The convenient taxi service was met with praise and hostility in equal measure. Since then, there have been many developments among them the launch of several other taxi services. Each taxi company seeks to reign supreme in an industry that has long been dominated by traditional taxi systems. Pricing is a major strategy that the taxi hailing mobile companies have attempted to apply.
In this post, I present a price comparison table. I chose to go with top seven taxi hailing services: four that do not apply a zone rate and three that have adopted it. In this post, you get to see whether your taxi hailing service is fairly priced or daylight robbery.
| Taxi App | Base fee | Cost Per Kilometer | Cost Per Minute | Zone Rate | Surge Fare |
| Uber | 100 | Kshs35 | Kshs3 | – | Yes |
| Mondo Ride | 100 | Kshs58 | Kshs5 | – | No |
| Little Cab | – | Kshs55 | Kshs4 | – | No |
| Taxify | Kshs100 | Kshs40 | Kshs4 | – | Yes |
| Mara Moja | – | – | – | Kshs250 | No |
| Dandia | – | – | – | Kshs300 | No |
| Pewin Cabs | – | – | – | Kshs300 | No |
Implication?
- Mondo Ride tops the list as the most expensive mobile taxi hailing services in Kenya. Uber is a distant fourth since it recently slashed its prices by 35%. Nevertheless, a closer look reveals that Uber and Taxify apply surge fare. Though temporary, this surge fare is a bit appalling.
- Little Cab and Mondo prices are at a close range. A major difference is that the latter charges a base fee. Nevertheless, the two are still work in progress as they were launched a little later. Little Cab acquired Easy Taxi in an effort to increase its customer base.
- Mara Moja, Dandia and Pewin Cabs still adopt zone rates and no surge fare. These still apply traditional taxi pricing strategies; their pricing is not based on kilometers and minutes like the rest. Of the three, Mara Moja comes out as the cheapest and this is impressive.
- With the surge in international and local players, the taxi hailing industry is likely to continue being a battlefield. We can only sit back and wait for these companies to play around with numbers in an effort to attract more users and retain the already existing ones.
- Until recently, Uber was the most expensive at Kshs60 per kilometer and Kshs4 per minute. Going forward, tables are likely to turn as the key players in this industry attempt to dominate an industry that had been a kingdom for traditional taxi services.
As to whether any of the recently launched taxi hailing services will beat Uber is debatable. We can only sit back and watch as these companies battle it out.
