ZayRide, a local IT firm, has inked a deal to facilitate the payment of taxi fares for the newly delivered meter taxis, with M-Birr. This will allow users to make payment anywhere they are using their mobile gadgets.
From this agreement, M-Birr will charge users one to two birr – the service fee varies according to the amount of money spent by the customer. If customers pay up to 100Br via mobile phones for the service they get, they will be charged one birr; if the taxi fare is more than a 100Br, M-Birr will charge two birr for as a transaction fee.
M-Birr will provide confirmation once the payment has been made, and it will also record the transaction history of customers.
“This will make the taxis easily accessible,” said Habtamu Tadesse, founder of ZayRide.
ZayRide is behind the development of applications for some of the meter taxis that were recently delivered and began to provide a service last week in the streets of the capital. Their application is accessible on android phones.
The IT firm has already signed a deal that includes 536 meter taxis under it, out of which 149 are yet to be imported.
Through the app, customers can easily see the nearest taxi within in their proximity and can also book for later use.
Among the meter taxi companies that partnered with ZayRide, Abinet Le Andinet is one.
The company, established by 35 individuals, took delivery of 35 of its Lifan 5030 model taxis last week. It was established last year, with 47,000Br in initial capital following a directive issued by the Federal Transport Authority (FTA), which insisted that the blue taxi association and individuals must form a company.
Upon the directive, 26 companies were established. These associations were able to strike a deal with four automotive companies. These companies have been given a permit to import 1,163 cars duty free.
Just last week, 836 of the cabs officially began operations at a ceremony held at Mesqel Square.
These taxis are equipped with a cab meter, GPS and radio communications device.
In addition to the tax free vehicle imports, the government also facilitated a credit, where it covers 70pc of the cost of each taxi being imported, with the companies required to cover the rest.
The 70pc loan has to be paid and completed within three years, with each individual driver expected to save 250Br a day to fulfil the criteria.
“This is a huge milestone from the government side,” said Temesgen Ephrem, deputy head of Abinet Le Andinet.
Now its capital, including the value of the taxis purchased, has reached six million birr. In addition to the number of cars it has, Abinet Le Adninet is also considering managing 35 taxis owned by individuals.
As a future plan, the Company aspires to import three taxis a year, Temesgen told Fortune.
ZayRide, as a business partner, will get 15pc commission from each ride made by the taxi. The commission will be calculated by the drivers.
So far, the FTA has not decided the price tariff for these new yellow and green painted taxis. But a number of sources involved in the process told Fortune that the price will range from between 15 to 20Br a kilometre – almost 20pc less than the current price charged by the blue cabs.
Currently in Addis Abeba there are 5,839 Code-1 and 4,896 Code-3 privately owned taxis.
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