Drivers allied form taxi hailing apps Uber and Taxify have partnered to form a digital taxi firm which will now rival their employers as the battle for the taxi hailing business in the country hots up.
Bebabeba now joins Kenya’s taxi hailing community that is increasingly becoming crowded and competitive by the day.
The new firm which has been formed by local investors is expected to offer competition to Uber and Taxify which are major players in digitl taxi business in the country.
Bebabeba Chairman, Simon Njuguna said the new firm which will have operations countrywide will be a game changer in the taxi business and revolutionalise the market.
“As a company, we want to ensure the driver, client and the vehicle owners will always be happy which is something that is lacking in the industry today,” said Mr Njuguna.
This year, several strikes by drivers affiliated to online taxi-hailing firms have been witnessed with the drivers decrying of “un-ending offers” and “high commissions” taken by the tech firms.
The new firm has lined up a raft of unique services which it is betting to use to attract clients.
Apart from the normal taxi services which will comprise of vehicles with less cc capacity, the company will also be family category which will comprise of seven seater vehicles.
The firm has also formed a lifestyle account which is designed for VIPs, top executives and senior public servants. They will have the liberty to choose vehicles of their choice.
Bebabeba has also designed a corporate account where various companies can open accounts for their employees for their travel needs.
“This account will be cost effective for corporates since they can have a capping of the amount of money they want their employees to use per month on travel,” he said.
Mr Njuguna added the company will also have premium services which will include share a ride model where clients moving to the same destination will ride in the same vehicle at a better rates.
Bebabeba premier extra and premier plus which comprise of luxurious and high end vehicles.
Clients in this category will however be required to do pre-booking by selecting the car of their choice once they log-in the app.They will enjoy a newspaper and bottled water during their ride.
Jamaica Waweru a director in the company said the firm has already roped in about 2500 drivers with plans underway to get more than 6000 drivers in the next six months.
Mr Waweru said the firm will be charging Sh 25 per kilometer and Sh 5 per minute. Their base fare will be Sh 150.
He said the firm will only be remaining with 13 percent since the drivers and the vehicle owners will each be getting 1 percent each as bonus.
The investors who will take their vehicles to the new firm will be paid a commission of 15 percent per every trip.
“We are assuring our clients that we have put in place systems that will ensure prices are not manipulated by our drivers to their advantage ,” said Mr Waweru.
There has been outcry from customers over fraudulent billing by rogue drivers raising concerns over the ability of the automated platform owners to protect consumers.
Fraudulent taxi drivers use dummy apps that interfere with the authentic apps location (GPS) readings to create a parallel travel path that prolongs the journey and ultimately enables them to charge riders more.
Hundreds of customers have recently reported suffering fraudulent billings by some of the digital taxi companies drivers.