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Tag: ride

  • Ride-Hailing Firm Grab Plans Major Investment In Vietnam

    Ride-Hailing Firm Grab Plans Major Investment In Vietnam

    Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Grab is set to invest “several hundred million dollars” in Vietnam where the company sees its next major growth market, just weeks after it unveiled a $2 billion plan in Indonesia.

    The proposed investment is the latest example of a top-notch regional brand deepening its commitment to Vietnam, one of Asia’s fastest growing economies. It also shows the eagerness of Grab, which has raised billions of dollars from investors, to put its cash to work.

    “We’re very excited about Vietnam. We see very similar characteristics to Indonesia,” Grab President Ming Maa told Reuters in an interview.

    Grab and rival Indonesia-based Go-Jek are evolving from ride-hailing app operators to become one-stop shops for services as varied as payments, food delivery, logistics and hotel bookings in Southeast Asia.

    Grab, with its app on more than 160 million mobile devices across eight countries, has said its Indonesia investment aims to build a next-generation transport network and transform how critical services such as healthcare are delivered.

    Like Indonesia, many middle class and young consumers in Vietnam are using apps and websites to access services, Maa said.

    “I would expect us to invest over several hundred million dollars into growing our Vietnam business,” he said without giving specific details on the investment.

    Vietnam ranks third or fourth among Grab’s top markets, said Maa, who joined the company three years ago from its major investor, Japan’s Softbank Group Corp, and a previous decade-long stint at investment bank Goldman Sachs.

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  • Lyft is vastly improving rider safety with in-app emergency assistance

    Lyft is vastly improving rider safety with in-app emergency assistance

    Ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft can be incredibly convenient in this day and age, but unfortunately, using these services is not always 100 percent safe, as proven by multiple reports of sexual abuse in the past few years committed by improperly vetted drivers and even the shocking recent murder of a college student who got into the wrong car.

    Fortunately, both Uber and Lyft are ramping up their efforts to improve rider safety and peace of mind, at least when they’re not busy making it easy for people to tell drivers to keep their mouth shut. Lyft’s latest “investment in safety” includes several new features and programs designed to educate all members of this ridesharing “community”, as well as prevent vehicle mix-ups, and most importantly, help users in danger get quick emergency assistance.

    The latter goal will be achieved (hopefully) with an in-app option providing direct 911 access without actually having to type the numbers or exit Lyft. This emergency assistance, or panic, button should have long been a thing for riders, rolling out to the drivers app first last year. Uber has had the safety-enhancing feature for about a year too, so Lyft is a little late to the party with today’s announcement of a public launch in the “coming weeks.”

    Meanwhile, license plate visibility has already been increased in the Lyft app for “many riders”, with availability set to expand in the “coming months” to ensure that gruesome recent incident that indirectly brought Uber loads of negative publicity will not repeat itself on the rival platform.

    Aside from paying more attention to the license plate of your Lyft, you should really provide additional information and context for your bad driver ratings. To make sure that will be the case going forward, the company is implementing mandatory secondary feedback. In other words, you will no longer be allowed to rate your ride under 4 stars without also leaving a comment explaining your grade.

    Lastly, Lyft is planning to make sexual harassment prevention education available to all users sometime “this year” with an aim of ensuring a “welcoming, inclusive, comfortable, and safe” environment for everyone. That’s certainly a noble goal… unlikely to be achieved anytime soon.

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  • Honda Files Patents For Variable Riding Position

    Honda Files Patents For Variable Riding Position

    Honda has filed a series of patent applications in Japan for what seems to be a new technology offering two different riding positions on the same motorcycle. The patent images show a Honda CBR1000RR which can have two different riding positions – an aggressive and sporty riding position, as well as a more upright and relaxed riding position. The key elements in the technology are the ability to move the bars and the screen, which provides the ability to raise the handlebars from the normal clip-on height because they are attached to extended tubes that run parallel with the fork legs.

    According to the patent application, the position can be changed by the press of a button. Also movable is the windscreen, which is also a simple operation. The top section of the front fairing is attached to a scissor-style frame that easily allows the rider to move the screen upward and into a more vertical position, if needed, for a more touring friendly riding position from an aggressive, sporty riding position. What is clear from the patent drawings is that this is not a complex mechanism that will require a ground-up re-engineering of the bike.

    It’s still not clear whether Honda will actually introduce a future CBR1000RR Fireblade with this new innovative technology, or if there will be an altogether new model which will showcase this variable riding position. Either ways, expect some sort of concept bike which Honda is likely to display, either later this year, or at one of the motorcycle shows next year which will showcase this unique new feature.

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  • Grab may be categorized as e-charter transport operator

    Grab may be categorized as e-charter transport operator

    The Ministry of Transport organized the meeting with other ministries, transport operators and associations to collect feedback for the eighth version of the draft decree before presenting it to the prime minister prior to April 15 as scheduled. Many participants at the meeting proposed Grab be listed as an e-charter transport operator.

    A representative from the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) noted that Grab was a new transport service provider that applies technology to its operations. Its services are widely used by the local people thanks to its convenient features.

    The MPS representative suggested the relevant agencies clarify Grab’s business structure and categorize it in accordance with prevailing regulations while imposing stringent management policies on the firm in terms of safety requirements for vehicles and drivers, service costs and tax and financial obligations to the State.

    Representing Grab Vietnam, Nguyen Ngoc Trang asserted that Grab functions as an e-commerce trading floor as it was previously registered with the Ministry of Industry and Trade. He also pointed out that some terms stipulated on the draft decree were redundant and illogical.

    Meanwhile, some participants at the meeting voiced their opposition to the suggestion to list Grab as an e-charter transport service provider.

    Nguyen Cong Hung, chairman of the Hanoi Taxi Association, was quoted by Nguoi Lao Dong Online as saying that the application of electronic features to operations is merely a transport connection method. It is illogical to name a new transport service type based on the connection method, Hung said.

    Also, Khuat Viet Hung, vice chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, stated that the five types of transport services regulated in the Law on Road Traffic were enough and creating a new service type was not needed.

    Wrapping up the meeting, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho remarked that the unit compiling the draft decree will take the feedback into consideration. He suggested the relevant parties continue to work on the draft decree before sending it to the prime minister.

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  • FastGo announces Vietnam’s first helicopter ride-sharing service

    FastGo announces Vietnam’s first helicopter ride-sharing service

    Vietnamese ride-hailing firm FastGo plans to launch the country’s first helicopter ride-sharing service in Hanoi this month, focusing on tourism in northern provinces.

    CEO Nguyen Huu Tuat told that FastSky’s first flight will take off on April 25.

    With 12 passengers to a helicopter, FastSky will operate tours from Hanoi to northern tourist destinations such as the Red River and Ha Long Bay.

    “Apart from SkyTour, we’ll also operate SkyWedding services for wedding photography and SkySOS for emergencies in which helicopters will land on Hanoi skyscrapers to pick up patients,” Tuat said.

    Prices vary for each service. A tour will cost a minimum of $125 per person, which can be paid in installments over a period of 12 months.

    Tuat said: “We offer premium services for business people but also want everyone to have a chance to fly. FastSky will be a game-changer in the transport industry.”

    FastGo only provides technology solutions while helicopters and pilots are provided by a partner who is permitted to fly in Vietnam, he said, but declined to reveal the company’s name.

    FastGo began operations last June, a few months after Uber announced its exit from Southeast Asia.

    The company, part of Vietnamese technology start-up NextTech Group, expanded to Myanmar last December.

    It plans to launch operations in Singapore this month and in five other countries in the region, including Indonesia and the Philippines, by the end of the year.

    With almost 60,000 drivers on board, the company claims to be the second most popular ride-hailing firm in Vietnam after Grab.

  • Vietnam ride-hailing app FastGo to hit Singapore streets

    Vietnam ride-hailing app FastGo to hit Singapore streets

    Vietnamese ride-hailing firm FastGo is set to launch Singapore operations in April as part of its regional expansion plans. The nine-month old Vietnamese start-up has announced that drivers will be able to register on its ride hailing application from April 1, and customers can use the service from April 30. Diep Nguyen, country manager for FastGo Singapore, said the company’s fleet size will be at least 3,000 cars.

    Singapore is the third country in which FastGo will operate, after Vietnam and Myanmar. The firm is expected to face fierce competition from market incumbents including  Singapore’s Grab, Indonesia’s Go-Jek, as well as local startups Ryde and TADA.

    FastGo, which is part of Vietnamese technology startup NextTech Group, has plans to launch in five other countries in the region, including Indonesia and the Philippines, by the end of 2019.

    While FastGo has not yet publicised fares, but the ride-hailing app will not charge peak period surcharges, and customers can tip drivers. FastGo aims to undercut competitors like Grab and Go-Jek, who collect 20 percent of ride fares from drivers, by charging them a fixed daily subscription fee of $5 if a driver’s income exceeds $30 a day.

    However, an associate professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, as saying “another small entrant” will not make a difference to the local ride-hailing market, unless the new player is financially backed by a strong sponsor or a well-known Singaporean firm.

    “Other than GoJek and Grab, the other (existing) players have very small market share and have difficulty making much impact locally. The market is easy to enter but it’s very hard to get a substantial market share,” he said.

    Founded in April 2018, FastGo Vietnam JSC launched its service after Uber’s exit from Southeast Asia last June. With almost 60,000 drivers onboard, the company claims to be the second most popular ride-hailing firm in Vietnam, following Grab. After receiving an undisclosed sum in a Series A investment from venture capital platform VinaCapital Ventures in August last year, FastGo is aiming to raise another $50 million in its Series B investment round over the next few months.

    According to the company’s statements, FastGo will diversify its services to include food delivery and financial services.

  • Grab now has more rivals than ever before in Vietnam

    Grab now has more rivals than ever before in Vietnam

    From an e-hailing app, Grab has made great steps forward, providing many different services. Most recently, it started the payment service GrabPay and lending service Grab Financial.

    The consumer lending market in South East Asia is very large. As estimated by the World Bank, about 2 billion people in the world cannot access bank services, and most of them are in Asia Pacific.

    The non-cash payment market, according to Grab, is worth $500 billion in South East Asia.

    An analyst commented that Grab is wise taking a ‘roundabout’ approach to consumer lending (it conquered the transport market first before aiming for the consumer credit market).

    Consumer lending is a fertile business field for Chinese e-commerce firms. The firms offer online payment apps to users to ‘learn’ about their financial capability.

    Grab, as an app, quickly attracted users, especially investors. Just within six years, Grab became an unicorn company, i.e. an unlisted technology firm with valuation of $1 billion and higher, in South East Asia. Analysts estimate that Grab is valued at $6 billion.

    The total number of Grab downloads has reached 95 million all over South East Asia. This could serve as the launch pad for it to conquer the consumer lending market.

    The challenges 

    “GrabPay e-wallet will be used for both transport and food delivery services, two of the most used services in South East Asia,” said Jerry Lim, director of Grab Vietnam.

    However, the analyst said, by expanding its business, Grab would have to compete with more rivals who are ‘powers’ in their fields. In online payment, for example, it will have to compete not only with AirPay (Sea) and Alipay (Alibaba Group), but also with local firms such as ZaloPay (VNG) and MoMo.

    In Indonesia, Grab bought an e-commerce platform, Kudo, in April 2017. Grab believes that this is the factor which can help expand GrabPay. However, in Vietnam, Grab’s two big rivals – Sea and Alibaba — both have strong support from two popular e-commerce floors – Shopee Vietnam and Lazada Vietnam.

    Similarly, GrabFood has rivals in the food delivery sector, where Sea’s Now, which inherited the large custom from Foody, is the leader.

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  • Aber ride-hailing service hits the road in Hanoi

    Aber ride-hailing service hits the road in Hanoi

    The ride-hailing market has seen new entrants after Uber’s departure, including Vietnamese firm FastGo, GoViet – a subsidiary of Indonesia’s Go-Jek, and the latest Aber. Aber estimates it will attract 5,000 taxi drivers and 5,000-10,000 motorbike drivers in Hanoi this year. In HCMC, the company is working with 7,000 drivers serving  more than 60,000 customers. Aber general director Huynh Le Phu Phong said the company was not afraid of major competitors such as Grab because it offers a wide variety of transport services.

    The firm will offer similar rates as other competitors, but give better benefits to its drivers, he said.

    “We do not force drivers to only work for Aber. They can also work for other companies to increase their income and improve their lives,” Phong said.

    In its latest update, Aber has added new features including a navigation system and accurate positioning to each alley, village, district and province in Vietnam.

    Vietnamese engineers designed the software.

    Next year, the company will focus on expanding its services, including Aber Express for delivery services, Aber Track for freight services, Aber Business for companies and Aber Travel for travel services, Phong said.

    Aber focuses on serving individual customers to help them save money, as well as drivers, when their vehicles are vacant, he added

    Instead of having to drop off items at the post office or delivery centers, drivers will come and pick things up right at the customer’s house.

    Current market dominator Grab has expanded its service to include GrabFood and GrabCar Business, the latter targeting the corporate sector. These moves pose further challenges for local long-standing taxi firms like Mai Linh, Taxi Group and Vinasun.

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  • Vietnam’s FastGo app looks to speed across borders

    Vietnam’s FastGo app looks to speed across borders

    FastGo CEO Nguyen Huu Tuat told on Friday that the app will have its own payment system and will “personalize” promotion deals that will match customers’ interests.

    “Our goal is to reach 30 percent of the market share after six months in these two countries,” he said.

    Explaining the choice of these two countries for the company’s first overseas expansion, Tuat said he wanted to start with the easiest neighboring countries to tap.

    “After looking at their national policies as well as the market’s current competitiveness, we believe that Indonesia and Myanmar would be the perfect destinations,” he said.

    “We also have strategic partners, networks and business strategies for us to be successful in these countries.”

    The company is in the process of hiring staff and renting facilities.

    After launching in Hanoi on June 12, the app is now available in Da Nang and Saigon.

    FastGo last month said it has 15,000 taxi and motorbike partner drivers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, but they are still not a common sight on the streets, unlike the ubiquitous red and green uniforms of Go-Viet and Grab drivers.

    Tuat said he wants FastGo to become one of Southeast Asia’s top 3 ride-hailing apps in the future.

    The company hopes to make its service available in 20 cities in Vietnam and five other Southeast Asian markets, including the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand, by the end of next year.

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  • Vietnam’s first car-hailing app FastGo heads overseas

    Vietnam’s first car-hailing app FastGo heads overseas

    FastGo, a Vietnamese ride-hailing app, plans to launch its service in Indonesia and Myanmar in December as it hopes to become one of the top companies in the field in Southeast Asia.

    This move abroad comes just five months after it launched in Vietnam, positioning itself as the company’s answer to Singapore-based Grab, the biggest player in Southeast Asia, and Indonesia’s Go-Jek, which launched its first overseas operation in Vietnam last month, GoViet.

    FastGo offers a private car and taxi service in Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City. As of early October, it claimed to have reached 20% of the local market with some 30,000 drivers registered on its system. The app was developed by MPOS Vietnam Technology, a tech startup created by FastGo’s co-founder and chief executive Nguyen Huu Tuat. MPOS set up Vietnam’s first mobile payment solution in 2013 and has links with many local partners including banks and insurers.

    “Although the Southeast Asian ride-hailing sector is dominated by Grab and Go-Jek, FastGo has strategic partners, networks and relevant strategies for the Indonesia and Myanmar markets in place,” Tuat told in an interview on Thursday.

    Tuat said this background would allow FastGo to expand in both domestic and regional markets and balance the ride-hailing market. This is currently dominated by the two big names who are busy expanding their ecosystems. FastGo is aiming to reach 30% market share in Malaysia and Myanmar after six months, Tuat said.

    MPOS has some experience in the ride-hailing business, providing the technology and platforms used by two taxi companies — Mailinh in Vietnam and Blue Bird in Indonesia — since 2016.

    “FastGo is not a competitor of taxi companies but a partner. We provide technical solutions and the platform to both taxi companies and private car owners, while giving more options for consumers,” Tuat explained.

    FastGo does not collect commission from its drivers, but charges them 30,000 dong ($1.30) each if they earn more than 400,000 dong per day.

    FastGo is committed to keeping passenger tariffs unchanged, but suggests they offer tips (ranging from 10,000 dong to 100,000 dong) to drivers to help secure a ride during peak hours. FastGo’s target passengers are white-collar workers and young people who are willing to use credit cards or mobile payment, but it also accepts cash.

    Tuat said the company’s main revenue and profit would not come from ride-hailing but from planned services including deliveries and finance lending.

    Hanoi-based FastGo is a member of NextTech Group, formerly known as PeaceSoft, with sister companies pioneers in financial technologies, e-commerce, e-logistics and investment across Southeast Asia. The group operates in eight countries and serves more than 12 million customers and 40,000 enterprise partners.

    The 35-year-old founder of FastGo has more than 15 years’ experience working in the Vietnam technology industry and has co-founded three startups, including PeaceSoft. Tuat led these companies through fundraising rounds from investors such as data group IDG, Japanese tech company SoftBank, online retailer eBay, Malaysia-based MOL AccessPortal and U.K. fund ACTIS.

    NextTech is also behind one of Vietnam’s first e-marketplaces, ChoDienTu, e-payment platform NganLuong and mobile wallet Vimo. It is also involved with two cryptocurrency trading platforms.

    FastGo will focus on working with existing partners and clients in each of NextTech’s current markets.

    “Unlike Grab or Go-Jek, the two biggest players in the region which built ecosystems from their ride-hailing services, the FastGo app is a value-added service to NextTech’s existing ecosystem and we will optimize all the advantages of that system,” Tuat added.

    FastGo secured at least $3 million from the tech-focused venture arm of private equity group VinaCapital in its first round of fundraising in August. The company is hoping to raise $50 million in the next round — scheduled for the first quarter of 2019 — to help accelerate regional expansion. FastGo plans to raise funds every six months.

    It hopes to make its service available in 20 cities in Vietnam and five other Southeast Asian markets, including the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand, by the end of next year.

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  • Blockchain-based ride-hailing app to arrive in Vietnam

    Blockchain-based ride-hailing app to arrive in Vietnam

    MVL says drivers will not have to pay commission, and the company will make a profit from selling data. A blockchain-powered ride-hailing app which requires no commission fee from drivers will be arriving in Vietnam this July in the wake of Uber’s departure last month following Grab’s acquisition of the firm’s Southeast Asian operations.

    MVL from the Singapore-based startup MVLchain is going to recruit its first batch of drivers in Vietnam this month.

    The upcoming app utilizes blockchain technology, and is the first ride-hailing app in Vietnam to do so, said CEO Kay Woo during a conference held in Ho Chi Minh City last Saturday.

    Blockchain technology utilizes a growing list of digital records which are linked and secured using cryptography. That means a blockchain system can act as a secure, open and transparent distribution ledger to record transactions between two parties efficiently and verifiably. Blockchain technology can be applied to manage assets, contracts and global payments.

    “Our data is stored using blockchain technology. That means all data belong to all suppliers in the system, which provides transparency,” said Woo. Fellow ride-hailing apps Grab and Uber instead store all their data in servers, said Woo.

    MVL will also not require its drivers to pay a commission. Instead, the firm will sell data generated from its daily operations to insurance and market survey companies to make a profit.

    The firm hopes to attract more drivers this way, aiming to eventually acquire 25 percent of all four-wheel and two-wheel vehicles currently operating in Vietnam.

    MVL will have to compete with Grab, the largest ride-hailing app currently operating in Vietnam. Once all the legal procedures are completed, MVL is expected to go live in Vietnam this July.

    Grab has raised suspicions about creating a monopoly in Vietnam now that its biggest rival Uber is gone, despite an official from the Ministry of Transport saying Grab is unlikely to do so, considering how there are other apps competing with Grab, including ViVu, Mai Linh Bike and Go-Jek.

    MVLchain was founded in 2012 by a group of Korean investors. It currently operates in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

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  • Uber selling Southeast Asian business to regional rival Grab

    Uber selling Southeast Asian business to regional rival Grab

    Ride-hailing giant Uber is selling its business in Southeast Asia to regional rival Grab while gaining a robust stake in the fast-growing ridesharing, food delivery and financial services business.

    Grab said Monday that Uber will take a 27.5 percent stake and a seat on its board as part of the deal. Financial details were not disclosed.

    Since becoming Uber’s CEO in September, Dara Khosrowshahi has been maneuvering to make the company profitable before a planned initial public offering expected next year.

    The company’s full-year net loss widened to $4.5 billion in 2017 as it endured multiple scandals and the departure of its co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick.

    The deal enables Uber to keep a foothold in the increasingly affluent market of 640 million people while cutting its losses.

    “It will help us double down on our plans for growth as we invest heavily in our products and technology to create the best customer experience on the planet,” Khosrowshahi said in a statement.

    Grab provides services in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia. It says it offers access to five million drivers and agents and handles over a billion transactions a year.

    The deal was dismaying to many in Asia who have often compared the rival apps in search of the best deal.

    The Uber app will be discontinued in just two weeks, and in the meantime its drivers have to sign up to drive with Grab. Riders, likewise, will need to download the Grab app and set up accounts, although their Uber accounts will still work outside Southeast Asia.

    The companies said that Uber Eats, the food delivery business, will run in Southeast Asia through May and then shift to the GrabFood platform. Grab has been seeking to dominate the regional market for car and motorbike hailing and has expanded into other areas, recently announcing plans to partner with a Japanese credit card company to provide credit to millions of people without bank accounts.

    In Indonesia, the region’s biggest economy and most populous country with more than 250 million people, it’s in a fierce battle for customers with local app Go-Jek, which has backing from Google and Tencent.

    Grab’s CEO and co-founder Anthony Tan said the acquisition of Uber’s regional business marks the beginning of a new era in using mobile businesses to provide transport, food delivery, payments and other financial services across the region.

    Uber has withdrawn from several big overseas markets. It sold off its China business to a competitor and partner, Didi Chuxing, taking a stake in Didi. In Russia, it agreed to merge its ride-hailing business in the country with Yandex, a local search-engine leader that also runs a popular taxi-booking app.

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  • Transport ministry reconsiders ride-sharing service ban

    Transport ministry reconsiders ride-sharing service ban

    The Ministry of Transport has sought opinions from ministries, localities and transportation associations on its recently imposed ban on app-based taxi ride-sharing service.

    The ministry recently sent a document to the ministries of police, justice, finance, industry and trade, information and communications; authorities of Hanoi, HCM City, Danang, Quang Ninh and Khanh Hoa and the Vietnam auto transport association and Hanoi and HCM City taxi associations.

    In the document, the Ministry of Transport admitted that earlier the ministry requested Grab to stop its ride-sharing service called GrabShare. However, now, the ministry needed to gather the opinion after receiving Grab’s reports on advantages of the GrabShare. Grab has asked for the ministry’s permission for the firm to continue the service.

    The Ministry of Transport noted that the ministry wants to get the opinion about Grab’s proposal and also needs recommendations about fines for the violation in this service.

    Both Grab and Uber launched GrabShare and UberPool respectively in May this year. The services allow drivers to add additional passengers to their journey in addition to the person who makes the original booking. The service can help save customers around 30% compared to the original booking.

    But traditional taxi companies strongly oppose the service, saying that it is illegal and unfair competition.

    In June this year, the Ministry of Transport requested the ban on the ride-sharing service, explaining that under the ministry’s Circular 63, transport firms are only permitted to sign one contract per trip. If a GrabCar driver carries two passengers that agree to share their ride with each other, it means they are fulfilling two separate contracts, and therefore in breach of regulations, the ministry explained.

    The ministry spuriously claimed that sharing a car with a stranger may result in possible risks for passengers, although such practices are very common among traditional taxi companies at airports.

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  • Vietnamese developers reveal latest ride-hailing app

    Vietnamese developers reveal latest ride-hailing app

    The new app will work along the same lines as Uber and Grab, but with better understanding of local travel habits, developers said. A locally developed ride-hailing app was unveiled on Friday in Vietnam, giving travelers yet another option in the rapidly expanding market.

    APPP, developed by Vietnam’s University of Transport Technology with funding from German-based investment company Sapa Thale, will work similarly to Uber and Grab but with a better understanding of local travel habits, its developers said.

    Uber and Grab are both popular services in Vietnam and considered major rivals to traditional taxi companies, which have reported losses due to the competition.

    While the other apps estimate the fare of each trip in advance, APPP allows the customer to negotiate the fare with eight drivers before booking, the developers said at the launch.

    The investor expects a door-opening fare of between VND8,000-8,500 ($0.35-0.38) and for fees to range from VND6,000-6,300 per kilometer.

    Sapa Thale said it has submitted an application to license the service with the transport ministry. No timeframe for a commercial launch has been revealed.

  • Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab hires former Indonesian police chief

    Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab hires former Indonesian police chief

    Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab said on Monday (Jan 30) it has appointed Indonesia’s former national police chief to oversee corporate governance and long-term plans for its biggest market.

    Grab said it plans to expand to more cities in Indonesia, grow its transport services and invest in a mobile payments platform.

    Badrodin Haiti, who was Indonesia’s chief of the National Police from April 2015 to July 2016, “brings extensive experience working with government stakeholders and ensuring aligned interests among different stakeholders,” the company said in a statement.

    Grab and its competitors, Uber of the United States and homegrown company Go-Jek, have faced regulatory obstacles in Indonesia.

    The government has ordered ride-hailing service providers to pass vehicle safety tests and get local partners, among other conditions.

    “As the technology and ride-hailing sectors evolve in Indonesia, Mr. Haiti will play a guiding role to ensure Grab contributes constructively to the implementation of new transport regulations and safety guidelines,” Grab said.

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