Uber eyes even more expansion as it announces partnership with Indonesia’s second biggest taxi firm
Uber's showing no sign of slowing up in its expansion.
The ride-hailing app company has announced a partnership with Indonesia's Express Transindo Utama, the country's second biggest taxi operator.
The deal will give Uber access to some of Express's 11,000-strong fleet of taxis and 17,000 drivers. It should also help the firm meet regulations on securing a local partner. Under the collaboration, Express drivers will be able to use the Uber app to take UberX orders (its "low-cost option"), as well as running conventional services.
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Uber drivers will be able to lease vehicles with no taxi attributes or branding from Express through monthly payments (partly through the income generated from using the Uber app).
In a statement, Express Group's chief operating officer Benny Setiawan said: "Through collaboration with Uber, we expect to improve the utilisation of our fleet."
Uber currently operates in five Indonesian cities, though it has faced competition from the likes of local startup GoJek, which focuses on scooters rather than cars.
Earlier this year, protests were held in Jakarta by Indonesia's taxi industry in an attempt to get the likes of Uber and Grab clamped down on. Thousands of protesters took to the capital calling for the companies to be banned.
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The firms were given the green light to continue, though regulation in April set out a range of conditions they had to abide by.
Earlier this month, the car-hailing app announced it was more than doubling the area in London where car-sharing option UberPool is available.
It now covers all of zone three spanning the likes of Wimbledon, City Airport and Dulwich. It marks a year since UberPool was launched in London to allow users to share journeys with other people heading in the same direction.