US-based ride-sharing app Uber is shutting down its taxi-hailing business in Israel. Taxi drivers working with the company received notice today that the activity will cease at the end of next week. The company, known for its ride-sharing service around the world, operated in Israel as a taxi-hailing service similar to that of Gett and Yango.
Uber also provides, via its app, an ordering service for electric scooters operated by Lime. This will continue after the taxi-hailing service ends.
Uber launched in Israel in 2014. It cut its activity when the Covid pandemic broke out, but returned at the beginning of 2022, and its business has expanded in the past year. Despite this, the company has decided to end it. Uber’s users in Israel were mainly tourists and businesspeople.
The background to the decision is the lack of a regulatory horizon in Israel, the fact that Israel is a small market, and the standard of service that local taxi drivers offered international travelers. Taxis are heavily regulated in Israel, and the industry is not progressive. Uber tried to promote ride sharing and pre-set fares, but met with opposition from the regulator.
Uber said in a statement: "We have made the difficult decision to suspend our taxi ordering service in Israel at the same time as the cessation of delivery services in Italy, as we have done in the past in other markets. The decision was made in accordance with Uber’s policy of focusing on the company’s main global markets. We are working to minimize the harm to the taxi drivers active on the platform and to our staff in Israel."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 15, 2023.
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