Ras Al Khaimah: Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority (RAKTA) has entered into an agreement with Hala and Careem to provide the first e-hailing service for taxis and limos in the emirate.
The service will provide customers with a smarter way to travel, giving them access to 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 enables a host of payment options, with cash, card, or in-app payments, while riders will automatically collect reward points for each trip.
Both Hala and Careem will be launching in a pilot phase in Ras Al Khaimah until the ramp up to a larger fleet of taxis and limos takes place and will be available across the emirate by mid-August.
Ismail Al Balooshi from RAKTA said, “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.”
Hala rides will “offer the most affordable option, with the added benefit of no surge pricing during peak hours”.
Clemence Dutertre, CEO of Hala, said, ‘’Hala’s purpose is to empower people to move around more easily, leveraging Careem’s best in class technology to deliver amazing experiences… The ability to offer Ras Al Khaimah residents the affordability of taxi, alongside the multitude of convenience and safety benefits offered by the Careem app, have ensured true value can be enjoyed by all riders.”
Bassel Al Nahlaoui, Managing Director of Careem (Gulf and Pakistan), said, “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 optimise the infrastructure and provide easy and convenient options for people to travel around seamlessly, in addition to a great customer experience.”
