The war on Taxi business dominance seems to have gone to the next level as the online taxi- app, Mondo Ride, slashed prices by a fifth.
The main rival in this business, Uber, last July proceeded to cut fares by a third.
And now the Dubai-based taxi firm has said that customers will only pay Sh45 per kilometre and Sh3 per minute in addition to a base fare of Sh100 effective.
The Taxi company which has more than 1,000 active drivers previously charged Sh58 per kilometre and Sh4 for every minute spent in a journey, plus a base fare of Sh100.
Taxify, an Estonian taxi startup, in mid-August lowered prices by nearly a fifth to charge Sh40 per kilometre, down from Sh50, Sh4 per minute from Sh5, while the base fare remained unchanged at Sh100.
“We have to follow the market prices,” said Joar Lindh, head of Africa at Mondo Ride, in an interview with the Business Daily.
The rapid-fire price cuts by Uber, Taxify, and Mondo Ride come as a win for consumers who will now enjoy lower fares.
However, the price war piles pressure on rivals such as Little Ride and Sendy (both backed by Safaricom), Teke Taxi, Maramoja.
The San Francisco-based firm also lowered the minimum fare payable to Sh200 from the previous Sh300.
Mondo Ride’s minimum fare for any trip is Sh200, Mr Lindh said, adding that the firm did not have price changes dependent on demand and supply.