Ride-Hailing Service Apps Await Legal Licensing in Jordan

Ride hailing apps in Jordan are facing hassles while authorities are confiscating private cars registered as drivers. The Jordanian ministry of transportation is currently studying the situation with officials, to either legislate or ban these services.

Lately, services working solely on private cars led hate-driven campaigns against local taxi drivers to empower their businesses, and looking away from the fact that taxi drivers construct a whole segment of society in Amman, Jordan. Thus, leading to several sit-in protests October 2016 by yellow taxi drivers; after being the 1st choice for passengers in the city.

One of the transportation services, “Easy” (Previously known as EasyTaxi), has been in Jordan for the past 2.5 years --after an investment by iMENA Capital-- adopting its global mission of empowering and enhancing local public transportation taxis. In addition to the ability of requesting a private car driver via the app’s option “EasyGo”, it is the only one that provides a refined conventional yellow taxi requesting service via “EasyTaxi” option which is the company’s main focus.

“Easy” officials found that there are two main problems underlying all symptoms of low quality of service in the yellow taxi segment in Jordan, which they are striving to solve hand-in-hand with authorities and ministry of transportation since launched in Jordan:

1. The lack of controls, checks and incentives for quality of service.
2. The artificially suppressed taxi fare, which is also structurally marginalized and abandoned when tested against the realities of today’s heavily congested roads in Jordan.

By executing strict quality procedures and win-win meter formulas, “Easy” ensures elevating a modernized and enhanced transportation within Jordan. “In order to address the problem of bad behavior, a rating system is used. The performance of drivers and passengers is tracked by the app, and the ratings are used to provide drivers with rewards for good service, and sanctions for bad.” Said Hamzah Nassif, Head of Investments in iMENA Capital.

Unlike its peers, “Easy” worked on developing and keeping opportunities open instead of jeopardizing the main jobs of yellow taxi drivers, and prioritizing private cars drivers –whom are mostly students working temporarily--. “Out of Easy’s global visions and values, we take in consideration that yellow taxi drivers must be included in the mobile internet and application technological revolution that has been rising in the past few years. This is the only way a whole society can be elevated without leaving behind anyone who has the right to maintain a steady income in times when making money is a problem by itself.” Said Hammad Ehtesham, Easy’s Middle East COO.

Nassif continued: “An in-app taxi meter is now used that provides a pricing structure that is fairer and more aligned with the realities of today’s traffic in the heavily congested streets of Amman during peak hours. This has resulted in higher average income per trip for drivers, while at the same time not making taxi rides unaffordable to passengers.”

Now, “Easy” is considered “The Hero of The Sector” by both passengers and drivers; for passengers because it provides the choice of both private cars and quality-controlled conventional taxis, and for drivers for not being abandoned by the technological disruption of transportation services. “The service has been adopted by hundreds of thousands of users and thousands of taxi drivers. It’s a solution that has been working for more than two and a half years now, and a solution that has worked within the confines of the existing laws and regulations, with all stakeholders (taxis, passengers, and regulators), and did not seek to destroy or otherwise undermine the existing segment of operators in the sector, but actually worked with them on solving their problems.” Added Nassif.

Considering all above, Easy’s management does “not believe in price surging and increasing meter fares to serve passengers better” as Ehtesham puts it, “Our mission is to develop this sector, while keeping prices and fares reasonable to both benefit drivers and passengers.” He added.