Cabify – one of the first smartphone taxi services to arrive in Portugal – is shutting up shop after “failing to meet its objectives”.
The Spanish transportation network company started up in Lisbon and Porto in 2016, but ran into trouble due to its policy of demanding driver ‘exclusivity’.
As new companies entered the market, drivers sought to diversify – and Cabify customers found themselves waiting much too long for a ride.
November 30 is the date set for Cabify’s final departure. Up until then, all drivers still signed up with the company will stay working.
Explain reports, Cabify’s ‘last ditch campaign’ offering drivers 80 euros for every 20 trips still failed to attract the necessary numbers.
The decision to close has been “a difficult one”, says the company.
On a wider level, smartphone taxi services generally are feeling the pinch. In London today, Uber – arguably the leader in the sector – lost its licence to operate in the capital after ‘regulating body’ Transport for London identified what it called ‘a pattern of failures’.
